


Two Moons (Part 2)

by baeksesoolove (silentlylo)



Series: Two Moons [2]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - Mob, Attempted Murder, Death, Depression, F/M, Grief/Mourning, Guns, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Murder, Panic Attacks, Parenthood, Sex, Single Parents, Suicide Attempt, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-04
Updated: 2018-06-04
Packaged: 2019-05-18 01:58:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 117,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14843426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silentlylo/pseuds/baeksesoolove
Summary: Chanyeol and Jongdae are the sons of two powerful families. After an assassination attempt on their fathers' lives, both of them find themselves having to take on duties they weren't prepared for and never wanted.





	1. (Waning Crescent)

**Author's Note:**

> This is part 2 of a 3-part story. Part 3 is complete but will be posted later this week or early next week.
> 
> This is an AU with a slight urban fantasy undertone. I created my own mob world with its own sets of rules and decorum. As far as I know there is no such thing as high families or The Academy in South Korea or anywhere else in the world. Or is there... ;)
> 
> In the story, Chanyeol's son's name is Taemin. This is not supposed to be a child-version of Lee Taemin. The name just fits really well for the story, so Park Taemin is an original child character.
> 
> Only the people listed above are meant to be based on those people. Everyone else in the story is an original character not based on any celebrity.
> 
> This story is very dark and has a lot of trigger warnings. Please check the warnings and tags before deciding if you should read it or not. I may have missed some, so if dark stories aren't for you, please don't read.

Chanyeol had just put Taemin to bed and had gone to brush his teeth when his phone rang with an unknown number. He let it continue until it stopped and finished brushing his teeth. Then the number rang again.

Chanyeol sighed and picked up, prepared to say they had a wrong number, but before he could, D.O.’s voice was telling him that he needed to talk to him right at that moment.

“I’m heading to bed,” Chanyeol said.

“Right now. We need to talk right now,” D.O. insisted.

Chanyeol sighed and told him he’d meet him in his father’s office. He slid his slippers onto his feet and yawned as he shuffled toward his meeting place, hoping that whatever the urgency of the matter was could wait for a morning resolution when he could think better.

He walked in to find D.O. pacing back and forth, dressed completely in black and wearing a black leather jacket that Chanyeol had the sudden urge to push back from his shoulders. He shook his head, not sure why that thought would occur to him, and walked in.

“This better be a real emergency,” Chanyeol told him with gruffness to his voice.

“I know who it is.”

Chanyeol’s eyes widened and he took three long steps to stand in front of the short man, towering over him as he stared.

“You found the assassin?”

“First of all, not an assassin. Second of all, you might have a bigger problem on your hands. You need to call in your advisor and cousin for this one.”

“My cousin’s at his girlfriend’s place tonight,” Chanyeol said, hurrying to his desk and dialing Jongin’s number on the speakerphone while calling Junmyeon on his cell phone. “It’s an emergency, come to the office now,” he explained to his advisor and hung up.

“Hey, what’s up?” Jongin asked on the speaker phone.

“Can you get alone for a quick important meeting right now?” Chanyeol asked him.

“Yeah, give me a few.”

Chanyeol put the phone on mute and looked at D.O., who now stood standing still and staring at him.

“Nice slippers,” D.O. said.

Chanyeol narrowed his eyes momentarily then relaxed and scratched the back of his head.

“I had just put my kid to sleep when you called.”

“I apologize for interrupting your night plans, but I didn’t think this could wait.”

“It’s fine,” Chanyeol said.

In the past few days, Chanyeol had become more accustomed to D.O.’s ways, knowing that he couldn’t quite win with him regardless of how hard he tried. D.O. had a knack for not reacting to anything, and it made him seem fearless, which made him impenetrable to any of Chanyeol’s attempts at reminding him who he answered to.

So, he had stopped bothering to bring it up altogether, falling into a rhythm with D.O. that involved exchanging information and listening to his unsolicited advice because a lot of times, it made more sense than Chanyeol wanted it to.

“I’m here,” Junmyeon said, shuffling in, wearing his own slippers with sweats and a T-shirt.

“Nice slippers,” Chanyeol said, and D.O.’s eyes cut to the side at Chanyeol as if checking to see if he had truly stolen his joke. 

Chanyeol snorted softly to himself and really, strongly wished that the look D.O. had given him hadn’t made him feel a certain way. Chanyeol was starting to suspect that the stress was getting to him and making his body do weird things and react strangely to things.

“Thanks,” Junmyeon said, oblivious to the joke as he stood beside D.O. “So, what’s going on?”

“Okay, I’m clear,” Jongin said on the phone. “Are you still there?”

Chanyeol took them off mute and said, “We’re here. D.O. discovered something.”

“It wasn’t a high family that tried to assassinate the elder Park. It was a cop. The whole thing was orchestrated by the police, and I think they meant it as a distraction for a bigger operation.”

“Wait, hold on,” Junmyeon said, widening his eyes as if that had woken him up.

“I should have known it was the cops,” Jongin said, cursing to himself on the line.

“How sure are you of this?” Chanyeol asked D.O.

“Sure enough to come over here and keep you from your sleep. The police records kept not making sense, the ballistics weren’t making sense, and the fact that it seemed like whoever did this didn’t know what they were doing was the biggest tip off. If a high family framed the Academy, they would know the Academy would never be this sloppy. The cops don’t really understand the Academy. Most cops don’t even think they’re real. The type of trajectory these bullets took were scattered and frenetic, definitely not the work of any well-trained assassin, much less a high-family-trained assassin, and definitely not an Academy assassin.”

“What makes you think it was a distraction?” Junmyeon asked.

“What Jongin discovered just several weeks later. It was a large operation to bring down the high families right? They probably thought the high families would be at each other’s throats by now blaming each other for this.”

“Well then it backfired,” Chanyeol shrugged. “We shut them down, right? So now we just need to find who was in charge of this and hold them accountable. Right?”

D.O. looked from Chanyeol to the phone, and when Junmyeon did the same, Chanyeol looked at the phone and asked once again, “Right?”

“I’m not sure,” Jongin said, and it was the first time Chanyeol had ever heard a pessimistic tone in his cousin’s voice.

“What do you mean you’re not sure?”

“Remember how we sent them a message after we found out about that job?”

“Yes,” Chanyeol said, crossing his arms.

“Well they sent one back.”

“When?” Chanyeol asked.

“Yesterday actually. I didn’t tell you about it because I didn’t want to upset you until I tried to get to the bottom of it.”

“What was the message?” Chanyeol asked, but even as he did, he felt his stomach flip, sure he didn’t want to know the answer.

“Our new guy who tipped us off,” Jongin said. “We found him hanging from the ceiling of an abandoned warehouse.”

“Fuck,” Chanyeol said, dropping his head and squeezing his eyes shut.

“Cops don’t tend to retaliate,” Junmyeon warned. “They’re acting like a high family.”

“The guy in charge thinks that’s the only way to bring us down,” Jongin said. “He’s been going off script since we got raided all those months ago, and he’s convinced someone in the force to let him do it his way.”

“They’re fighting fire with fire,” Chanyeol said shaking his head and looking back up at them.

“And the problem with cops,” Junmyeon pointed out, “Is that they don’t have rules with us. High families know the consequences of stepping out of line. The cops won’t care.”

“Which means your life is in extreme danger,” Chanyeol realized out loud. “You’re not to leave this house until we figure this out. Nor is anyone who doesn’t carry for that matter. Make sure everyone is informed of that.”

Junmyeon nodded, then said, “I’ll alert the Kims as well.”

“Do the Kims still have a guy on the force?” Jongin asked. “I had only managed to get us the one for the time being, and with that message being sent, it’s going to be hard to get another one at the moment.”

“I can inquire about that when I call them,” Junmyeon said.

“Shit, we don’t even have anyone else in there?” Chanyeol said to himself, knowing it had come off almost whiny. He didn’t care. Why was this happening?

“I can go out tonight and try and talk to some people,” Jongin said. “If we’re up against a possible mass raid, then we’re going to need all the help we can get.”

“Do you want to alert our allies?” Junmyeon asked.

“We should probably call a meeting, yeah?” Chanyeol asked unsure.

Junmyeon nodded, “I’ll send out a message tonight so they all see it first thing in the morning.”

Once they had settled on their plan of actions, Chanyeol hung up the phone and Junmyeon left, Chanyeol back alone in his office with D.O.

“Thank you,” Chanyeol said. “For alerting us to this.”

“That’s why you brought me back.”

“You definitely did your job.”

“You seem to be trying to do yours.”

Chanyeol nodded, then asked, “Are you staying on property tonight?”

“I hadn’t thought about it.”

“Oh,” Chanyeol said, not sure why he cared or what it mattered. It wasn’t like he was going to seek him out in the morning for a round of tennis. “Well, whatever, I should get some sleep.”

“Sleep well,” D.O. said, and he bowed to him and left the office.

Chanyeol stood there, feeling like maybe he should have told him something else, or figured out a way to keep him there a bit longer. He realized that there was something about D.O. that he found grounding, and right now more than ever, he needed to feel grounded.

***

Taemin was not in the best mood the following day, insistent that his grandmother had promised him to go to the park that day.

“I know she promised you,” Chanyeol told him, as he tried to get his son’s shirt onto him, but the boy kept batting away with his arms in protest. “But things changed and now she can’t do it. But you can play outside in the yard all you want. When I was little, I used to like playing in the courtyard. I would play hide and seek with my best friend. What if you and grandma do that instead?”

“No!” Taemin said and Chanyeol sighed.

“Hold still,” he told him, trying again to get the shirt on, and Taemin pushed at him. “Hey! No. You don’t push daddy.”

When Taemin pushed him again out of insolence, Chanyeol grabbed his arm and again told him, “No,” but Taemin just yelled and kicked at his leg and Chanyeol didn’t know what to do.

“Why are you being like this? Stop it.”

“No!”

“I’m going to spank you if you don’t stop and let me put your shirt on.”

“No!”

Chanyeol grabbed the little boy and laid him over his lap, giving him a spank and hoping only one did the trick.

The boy cried out, “I want mommy!” and Chanyeol froze, his hand mid-air in preparation of a second attempt.

Taemin never tended to call out for her, and Chanyeol had convinced himself that the little boy barely remembered his mother, more so because Chanyeol needed to believe that.

“Hey,” Chanyeol said softly, helping Taemin back up off from his lap and grabbing him gently by his arm to face him toward him. He looked into his son’s eyes and wiped a few tears from his cheek. “We talked about this. You can’t say that in this house.”

“I miss mommy.”

“Tae, listen, this is very important. You can’t say that here. You can’t let anyone hear you say that.”

“When is she coming here?”

“Do you remember what I told you? About how your mommy loves you very much? That she’s always with you, even if you can’t see her? You can talk to her when you’re alone, but you can’t do it in front of the other people in this house. You can’t, Tae. Do you understand me?”

“Can I ask grandma about mommy?”

“No. No one. They don’t know anything okay? Promise me you will not talk about her in front of anyone.”

The little boy did not like this request, but he promised, and Chanyeol took a deep breath and tried to put his shirt on for him again.

“I can do it,” Taemin said, reaching for the shirt.

“You want to do it? Okay,” Chanyeol said, putting it in the right direction for him so it’d be easier. 

He watched his son put his shirt on, knowing that his son liked to show off whenever he could that he was a big boy and didn’t need to be treated like a baby. He was so much like his mother that it pained Chanyeol too much to think about it, so he tried to never entertain those thoughts and memories.

“Come here,” Chanyeol said after Taemin was done, and he pulled his son into his arms and gave him a big squishy hug and big kiss on the cheek, which made Taemin laugh. “I love you more than anyone else in the whole world. You know that right?”

“I love you too, daddy,” Taemin said, and Chanyeol swore those were his favorite words in the entire universe.

***

“Should I get you another cup of coffee?” Junmyeon remarked when Chanyeol slid into the limo with two large travel mugs.

“It’s been a rough morning,” he said, handing one to his advisor.

“You do look a bit worse for wear,” Junmyeon said, thanking him for the coffee. “I imagine it was difficult to sleep with everything we learned last night.”

“It was,” Chanyeol said, not even savoring the dark liquid as he guzzled it down. “Stay close to the bodyguard the whole time, okay? If it wasn’t protocol to have you at this meeting, I wouldn’t have let you come.”

“Don’t worry,” Junmyeon said. “I’m very good at ducking and rolling.”

His advisor’s phone went off and Chanyeol glanced over, seeing Sehun’s number pop up and smirking.

“He’s still calling you?”

Junmyeon sighed and let the call go to voicemail.

“He claims he likes talking to me.”

Chanyeol was not surprised to hear this. After their rough night together, Chanyeol had known it was time to end things with the sophomore. Whatever they were doing wasn’t healthy for either of them and Chanyeol had more pressing matters on his mind. He had instructed Junmyeon that morning to pick Sehun up from the hotel and to take him to get a nice breakfast, then to break the news to him that Chanyeol would no longer be contacting him. According to Junmyeon, Sehun’s reaction had been to chew on his bottom lip, then shrug and say, “He wasn’t my type anyway.”

While that should have been the end of it, Sehun had apparently enjoyed Junmyeon’s company during breakfast enough to continue to keep in touch with him, and Chanyeol was endlessly amused by this.

“He’s yours for the taking if you’re interested,” Chanyeol let him know, not wanting his advisor to think he couldn’t cross a line.

“I think that would be a little awkward,” he said regardless, and Chanyeol had a feeling that his advisor had drawn his own line that he wouldn’t cross. “Besides, he’s a bit young.”

“But you’re his type,” Chanyeol joked.

“But he’s not mine.”

“What is your type?”

“Adult.”

Chanyeol snorted and pointed out that he was legal, but Junmyeon didn’t care and instead had Chanyeol focus on preparing for the meeting ahead.

***

“I bet your father was proud of you for coming up with that deal for the Kim family,” the elder Choi said, and his tone was not complimentary.

It had been clear within the first moments that the other families had arrived that they seemed a bit wary of Chanyeol and his intentions.

“I did what I thought was best for the situation,” Chanyeol stated.

“It certainly worked out well for the Park family,” the elder Kang stated. “Your assets next quarter will see quite the inflation.”

“This was a family matter,” Chanyeol said, letting the comments slide off him, “And we took care of it.” 

He knew they were upset because they wouldn’t be able to try and peck at the Kim assets once the family was defenseless and unable to protect their businesses. He had remembered that part of D.O.’s comments to him very well. All of this was about money.

“So, then what is this meeting in regards to?” the elder Yoo asked.

“We discovered who was behind the attempt on my father’s and the elder Kim’s lives.”

The heads all looked surprised and paid closer attention.

“It wasn’t another high family,” he continued. “It was the police.”

“That’s preposterous,” came one comment, while from another, “That makes sense.” The heads spoke sporadically as they attempted to understand and then the elder Choi asked, “How do you know this?”

“This is what our investigation uncovered. We’re in the process of finding out if this means this is part of a bigger operation. Until then, we have instructed all of our non-carrying personnel and family members to not leave the estate. The cops do not follow our rules, so everyone is in danger. I suggest you all do the same. In the meantime, we need to work together. Our insider was murdered as a warning sign to us, so we don’t have anyone that can alert us to what they might be planning. We will continue to have these meetings and we will all share what we find out until we get to the bottom of this.”

Chanyeol didn’t think their allies were particularly trustworthy, but he’d give them the chance to prove that they were truly on their side.

When the meeting was later adjourned, Chanyeol tried to relax on the car trip back home, but found his thoughts drifting through every stressful thing he had dealt with that day. Part of him was scared that Taemin had not kept his promise and had gone around asking people about his mother, part of him was scared that Jongin’s tone indicated that his cousin did not have things as under control as he was supposed to, part of him was scared that their allies were going to screw them over when it was all said and done, and part of him was just scared that Junmyeon needed to be back in the safety of their home.

“You look very far away,” Junmyeon mentioned.

“I want things to be simple.”

“That would be nice.”

And then Chanyeol had another sudden thought that scared him.

“I just realized something,” Chanyeol said. “Now that D.O. did what we hired him back to do, we’re supposed to let him go and disappear again.”

“I can inform him when we return if you like.”

“No,” Chanyeol said with more force than he had intended, and Junmyeon looked at him with curiosity. “Maybe we can reassign him. We’re going to need all the help we can get now, right? We could probably use him.”

“Didn’t your father make you promise to let him go when he was done?”

“Well maybe he’s not really done then. Maybe he has to stay until we see this through and make that cop in charge pay for what he’s done.”

“Your father’s orders were clear.”

“But he’s proved useful.”

“I have noticed you’ve softened up to him.”

“Only because he’s been useful.”

“Of course,” Junmyeon said, “But again, your father was clear. Whatever the history is between them, it’s obvious that your father feels strongly about this and will not be pleased if you don’t let him go.”

“I’ll talk to D.O. about it,” Chanyeol said. “Maybe he’s changed his mind about wanting to leave.”

Junmyeon looked at him for a moment then nodded and said, “Let me know the outcome of that meeting.”

“I will,” Chanyeol said, and this time, it was he who chewed on his lower lip as he turned his attention to the passing scenery out the window.

***

Chanyeol walked into his home concerned that maybe D.O. wasn’t around. He technically didn’t have to be there, but just the same, he hurried through the grounds to the bungalow he normally would be found in.

He opened the door and was relieved to see him there, discussing things with his mentor.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Chanyeol said to both of the men and then he nodded at D.O. “Do you have a moment?”

The older assassin smiled at D.O. and told him he’d catch up with him later, leaving so the two men could sit and speak alone.

“I thought you would have left already,” Chanyeol said sitting in the warm seat the mentor had just risen from.

D.O. raised his eyebrows, waiting for more information.

“Just, you know, you found our culprit. And my dad said you would leave after that, but I was thinking you shouldn’t leave.”

“I shouldn’t?” D.O. said, one eyebrow raising even further up.

“Well, I mean, we’re just getting started now with this thing, and you’re kind of like a part of it now, and we could really use all the help we can get.”

“So, you want me to stay and help out further?”

“I mean, if that’s okay with you. It’s just, you’ve helped a lot. We need help,” he stated again, and then he wondered why he sounded like an idiot at the moment.

“I’ll stay and help,” D.O. said.

“Really?” Chanyeol tried to not sound too excited, because he wasn’t. He was just surprised.

“What are my new orders?”

“Well, I was thinking. I’m probably going to have to go to a lot of meetings and stuff, and normally I’d take my advisor, but with him not carrying… I mean, you give me good advice whether I want it or not, so I was thinking, since you carry, that you could be like my subadvisor. You know, for when my advisor isn’t around.”

“Your subadvisor?” D.O. said with a dubious stare.

“Okay, I made that title up. But you get the point, right?”

“I do,” D.O. acknowledged and he stared at Chanyeol but said nothing else.

Chanyeol would give a lot of money to get a glimpse inside of D.O.’s thoughts. Something interesting had to be happening behind those big brown eyes that seemed to say so much without giving away any real information.

“So, you’ll be my subadvisor?”

“If those are your new orders, then yes.”

“I thought you only took orders from my father.”

“You’re starting to prove yourself, so I’m taking the chance. Don’t make me regret it.”

“Again, I don’t have to prove myself to you.”

“You’re starting to make me regret it.”

“Wh…” Chanyeol paused and then looked at D.O. who seemed amused. “I… I have no idea what I was going to say. I should go and do stuff.”

“Do I need to come with you? As your subadvisor?”

“You’re making fun of the subadvisor thing, aren’t you?”

D.O. just waited for an answer to his question instead, but Chanyeol did notice the mischievous smirk at the corner of his lips.

“I’m actually going to go speak with my father,” Chanyeol told him, “But, I’ll let you know when I need you after that.”

“I’ll wait to hear from you then.”

Chanyeol nodded and got up, nodding to him again for some unknown reason and then leaving.  He passed his hand through his hair as he walked back across the grounds and tried to shake his head a few times because something was very much wrong with him.

So much so that even his father noticed.

“You have something on your mind,” his father said once Chanyeol had greeted him and sat in the chair beside his bed to speak with him.

“I have a lot on my mind. The cops tried to kill you, and we have to figure out a way to take care of that, which is a bit harder than taking care of a high family.”

“Something else is on your mind,” his father noted.

“A lot of people’s lives are in danger right now.”

“You seem distracted.”

“There’s a lot happening.”

“You can talk to me about it.”

“I spoke with D.O. and he’s agreed to stay on to help until we bring this all to an end. I know you said to let him go, but he’s a great asset and we can really use him.”

His father frowned, his eyes turning downcast for a moment.

“He agreed,” Chanyeol reiterated. “Like it wasn’t an order or anything. You can confirm with him if you need to.”

“I believe you,” his father said, moving his hand up and down as if telling Chanyeol to calm down. “I just wish it did not have to be like this.”

“So, you’re cool with me being stuck doing this, but you wish he didn’t have to? Is he like an illegitimate son of yours that we didn’t know about?”

His father’s eyes went wide, and Chanyeol knew that if his father had been in better condition, he probably would have gotten a good whack for that.

“I’m sorry, that was crude. It just feels like you treat him a lot like a son. A son you like. A son that probably would have followed in your footsteps like you wanted him to or something.”

“Your jealousy is clouding your judgment,” his father told him, and though his father hadn’t fully recovered, his voice was stern. Chanyeol felt guilty at upsetting him so much.

“You’re right. It is,” he said. “I apologize for my outburst. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“Perhaps this will lighten the mood some,” his father said, pointing toward a paper on the nightstand.

Chanyeol grabbed it for him, and his father motioned for him to take a look at it.

It was a child’s drawing, and Chanyeol bit his lip as he realized that Taemin must have drawn it.

“He brought it to me today when he visited,” his father explained. “He said he drew a picture of the family so that I could talk to any member whenever I wanted, even if they weren’t in the room.”

Chanyeol looked at each drawing, the smallest figure in the middle obviously Taemin, and the towering uber-tall figure beside him, could only be Chanyeol.

“He pointed at each person,” his father said with a smile, “He told me that it was Jongin and me, amusingly he drew me in what I think is supposed to be a bed, which means I need to start walking more around him. He pointed out grandma, himself, you, his mother, and then Anya. It was nice of him to include Anya I thought.”

Chanyeol put the paper back, not prepared to deal with the implication of what Taemin had drawn. He had to get out of this house and out of this situation altogether, the reminder suddenly strong.

“It was nice of him to include her,” he agreed. “So, back to our present situation,” he said abruptly, “They took out our only police connection that we had, so we’re going to borrow the Kim’s connection for now. At least until we start getting information from the other families.”

“I thought it interesting that he drew his mother,” his father said instead. “Having never met her. He’s reaching an age where he will start to ask questions about her, if he hasn’t already. Have you thought about what you’re going to tell him?”

“That’s all I had to update you on,” Chanyeol said standing up. “I’ll let you get back to your rest.”

“Chanyeol,” his father said, the stern tone coming back and rooting him into place. “You’re doing a great job,” he said, his tone softer now. “Not just with the family, but as a father as well. You should be very proud of yourself, but remember you do not have to carry the weight of everything on your shoulders. Everyone in this family loves you. Everyone will help you. Please remember that the next time you get so lost in your thoughts, and your stress, and your jealousy.”

Chanyeol wasn’t sure why it affected him so much to hear his father say that, but he nodded to him and left the room feeling like he had been simultaneously reprimanded and coddled.

***

When Chanyeol hadn’t seen Jongin at dinner, he texted his cousin to see where he had disappeared to and received a text back saying he was in the library.

Chanyeol headed over to the room that was less a library and more just a secondary gathering place where his family kept oversized couches and board games, with only a few bookshelves along the walls. Jongin sat in one of the oversized armchairs, drinking something out of a tumbler that looked as if it was probably strong. He had his legs pulled up into the armchair with him, and he leaned to the side a bit, his mind apparently lost in something that involved staring at the books.

“You missed a good dinner,” Chanyeol told him, sitting back in the couch that faced him and letting himself sink into it. Exhaustion seemed to be his new best friend.

“I’ll get some leftovers later,” he said, turning his attention to his cousin. His eyes had lost the carefree shimmer that Chanyeol was used to seeing in them. “I’m really sorry.”

“Don’t beat yourself up over this,” Chanyeol said. “Now, more than ever, I need confident Jongin.”

“You know, I never cared one way or the other about not being considered to take over for your dad someday. My mom very much wanted me to. While you were gone, she talked to your dad about it and tried to convince him that I should be the one to do it. I told her not to. I respect my uncle’s wishes because I respect him and know that he has the best interests of the family always in mind. I was content learning the ropes of our entertainment business and securing us contacts to use in high places. I really like my job.”

“Because you’re really great at it,” Chanyeol reminded him. “I couldn’t do what you do.”

“And I couldn’t do what you do,” Jongin told him. “I never would have come up with that deal you offered the Kim’s. If it had been me, the Kim’s would be fighting for their lives right now and all of our allies would be taking whatever businesses of theirs they could grab.”

“Everyone else would have chosen the same as you. You wouldn’t have been wrong.”

“Maybe not wrong, but what you did was completely right. Whether you knew it at the time or not. Your father knew what he was doing wanting you to take over and not me. And to see it in action is amazing. When you first came back, I thought you were going to crash and burn. Instead you’ve risen so high that people from other families can’t stop talking about how you’re just like your dad. Whatever weakness they thought they were going to be able to take advantage of during this time, doesn’t exist. And they know it. This family has remained strong during this difficult time because of you. I know now that wouldn’t be the case if I had been the one running things.”

“And I know for a fact that you wouldn’t be saying any of this about me if I didn’t have your help throughout all of it. I couldn’t have gotten this far without you by my side. Or Junmyeon.”

“Junmyeon’s amazing,” Jongin said, regaining a bit of his smile.

“I’m so glad to hear you say that,” Chanyeol told him, “Because when all this is said and done, and you really are the one taking over, I was hoping you’d have the common sense to keep him.”

“I would definitely keep him,” Jongin said, a small twinkle returning to his eye, “But, I’m not taking over. That’s your job. Maybe not now. Your dad is getting better, and he’s had a lot of his fire return to him over the past couple of days. But later, maybe when your son is older and you realize you can’t really protect him from all of this, you’ll come back. Like when he’s in college or something. Or after college, when he has a boring job as an architect or something.”

“You think he’s going to be an architect?”

“Well, he’s always trying to build your building. I don’t know,” Jongin said with a small chuckle. “I really can’t wait until I have some of my own. I already told Chrystal we’re having at least four.  At least one of them should have what it takes to be your replacement since I know you don’t want that for Taemin. Although, what if he wanted to be involved? Like when he’s older and finds out about everything.”

“I don’t want him to find out about everything,” Chanyeol said. “That’s the point of me wanting to leave as soon as I can.”

“He’s a smart kid. He’s gonna figure it out. No matter how hard you try and shelter him from it.”

“Not if he grows up normal.”

“Normal until another family war breaks out and suddenly he has a bodyguard that has to be with him all the time. Or normal until something like this happens again and he has to be exposed to it. You can’t control the future. And you can’t control normal either. He will find out, and when he does, what would you do if he came to you and said he wanted to be involved with the family?”

“No,” Chanyeol shook his head. “It’s not going to happen. It just isn’t.”

“Okay,” Jongin said with a knowing smile, but then he lost the smile again and said, “I’m going to fix all this. I met with Minseok today about their contact on the force. He didn’t want to give up the name because he was still upset he wasn’t part of the hostage negotiations. He said that since it was their contact, that he should be the one dealing with him.”

“That’s nice of him to be so grateful to us for saving his family’s ass,” Chanyeol said, annoyed by this already. He had never cared much for Minseok anyway.

“Yeah well, he’s not entirely wrong,” Jongin said. “The relationship is already established between them, and Minseok’s really good at what he does, so I told him he was right and that he was in charge of getting information from their contact and reporting it back to us. We should be getting some of that back tomorrow from him.”

Chanyeol nodded, grateful that at least Jongin handled interacting with the Kim family better than he could.

“He wouldn’t have happened to have mentioned how Jongdae is doing by any chance?” Chanyeol inquired, wishing he didn’t care, but it was hard to put all that history behind him, especially now that his memories seemed to be fighting hard against his repression of them.

“Not really. Oh, he did mention that Jongdae was pretty bummed about having to stay home because he can’t carry anymore. I guess they had started letting him out for a couple of hours at a time here and there, but now he’s back to just being stuck at home. Other than that, he didn’t say anything.”

“House arrest is never fun,” Chanyeol said, remembering whenever his family was involved in some crazy war that restricted his access to the outside world. “I hope he gets better soon.”

“I’m sure he will,” Jongin nodded with a soft smile. “I guess I should go see about the leftovers,” he then said, finishing his drink and then standing up. “I have a lot of work to do tomorrow so I’m going to eat then turn in early.”

“I should do the same,” Chanyeol nodded, and he stood up as well, walking with his cousin to leave the library. “I meant what I said. You’re doing great and I really do need you and your expertise now more than ever. Get some rest so we can start to bring this all to an end in the morning.”

Jongin smiled at him with a soft nod, then headed toward the kitchen, while Chanyeol headed to his room.

***

“A subadvisor?” Junmyeon asked him the next morning in the office, his eyebrow raised as he sat in his usual seat.

Chanyeol sipped his coffee and nodded.

“He wouldn’t be replacing you or anything,” Chanyeol was sure to explain, “Just, since you can’t accompany me to things for now, he could. And, I mean, he’s an assassin, so he’s like having extra security as well. It’s a two-in-one job.”

“That’s pretty clever,” Junmyeon told him, amusement settling onto his lips. “Keeping him close like that.”

“Yeah,” Chanyeol nodded. “I mean, he seems to be alright, but, you know, we can’t trust him completely yet. It’s good to keep him close.”

“You can’t trust your subadvisor completely yet?” Junmyeon said, in a way like he wanted Chanyeol to understand the ridiculous words that had come out of his mouth.

“Not like that. I mean to leave. You know? Like, he could just leave. So, this way, we keep an eye on him.”

“You’ll keep an eye on him.”

“No, my bodyguard will too.”

“Your bodyguard will be keeping an eye on you.”

“Oh, right,” Chanyeol nodded, and he sucked in his bottom lip, then thought it best to take another sip of his coffee.

“Well there’s one thing I know for sure,” Junmyeon said, as he lifted up his buzzing phone for Chanyeol to see that Sehun was calling him again. “You never reacted to talks about Sehun like this.”

Chanyeol wasn’t sure what Junmyeon meant by that and instead asked him, “Why does he keep calling you at this time every day?”

“It’s when he’s headed to class. He likes to talk along the way.”

“But you never talk to him. You’re always with me.”

“He keeps trying,” Junmyeon shrugged off.

“When was the last time you actually talked to him?”

“He called last night. He’s figured out my bedtime,” Junmyeon admitted, and Chanyeol didn’t bother to hold back the laughter.

It escaped from Chanyeol’s throat and mouth all at once, and he slapped his hand against the desk as he laughed a good laugh for the first time since he had temporarily taken over for his father.

“I’m glad you’re amused by this,” Junmyeon said, a little pink in the cheeks, but also smiling.

“I can’t imagine what you guys talked about,” Chanyeol said, holding his hand over his heart as if needing to stop himself from laughing to death.

“Last night it was his thoughts on Kant’s  _ Critique of Pure Reason _ ,” Junmyeon offered. “I think he was trying to mentally work through an assignment he was working on. Either way, his insights were rather interesting.”

“That… sounds boring,” Chanyeol said laughing again.

“Which is probably why he had the good sense to never talk to you about it.”

“Sehun and I never really talked much honestly.”

“Well, he’s quite talkative once you get him going.”

“So, when are you going to hook up with him?”

“Never,” Junmyeon stated.

“Lies.”

“It’s a moot point since I can’t leave the estate regardless.”

“That’s only temporary.”

“It won’t be temporary if we don’t get started on your business day.”

Chanyeol gave one last chuckle and said, “Fine. Let’s get started.”

“Do you want to call your subadvisor in for the day as well?” Junmyeon said.

Chanyeol’s eyes went wide not sure why he’d say that and he noticed a weird, knowing smirk on Junmyeon’s lips.

“Stop making fun of my subadvisor idea. Everyone keeps doing that. Just, get started.”

Junmyeon let out his own chuckle, and then began briefing Chanyeol on his day ahead.

***

Chanyeol hadn’t called for D.O., mostly because he had been busy, so instead he decided to take a walk around the grounds and see if he could casually run into him.

He wasn’t too surprised to find him in the gun range, taking shots, and this time, not missing on purpose.

Chanyeol stared, a bit mesmerized by the effortless way that D.O. put the bullet through the same exact spot, each and every time.

When the man put down his gun, Chanyeol cleared his throat and pretended to have just walked in.

“I thought I’d find you here,” he said, clearing his throat again for good measure before standing in front of the shorter man.

“You never called for me, so I figured I’d practice,” D.O. explained.

“I got caught up,” Chanyeol said.

D.O. reached a hand up and smoothed out the sides of Chanyeol’s hair.

“Did you just wake up or something?” He asked, pulling his hand away when he was done fixing it to his liking, Chanyeol assumed, but Chanyeol couldn’t be sure because he had frozen at the sudden action. He swallowed and this time was the one staring at D.O. with big eyes. “You have bedhead,” D.O. explained.

“No,” Chanyeol said shaking his head very slowly, trying to focus back on D.O. and not on what D.O. had just been doing. “I just, there was a lot of stressful things today, and I kept messing with my hair I guess.”

“So, what do you need me to do?” D.O. asked, and Chanyeol wanted to tell him that he needed to continue to fix his hair.

“Nothing right now,” Chanyeol said. “We’re on hold until Kim Minseok returns with information from the Kim family contact in the force.”

“Then why are you here?”

“Have you eaten yet?”

“Not since breakfast.”

“You should eat. You should come eat with me. Back at the house. I can have the cook make us some noodles. She’s amazing. She can make you any kind you like.”

“I wouldn’t want to impose on her in that way. I’m sure she works very hard to make sure everyone in the home is content with their meals.”

“I mean, that’s her job,” Chanyeol said, not sure of his answer. “Do you have a favorite noodle dish?”

“I’ll eat anything.”

Chanyeol nodded and motioned with his head for D.O. to follow him, the two men walking back across the grounds and across the courtyard to enter directly into the kitchen.

The cook had been preparing a noodle soup for lunch, and she served it to both of them, the warmth of the liquid comforting after walking through the nippy air outside.

“So now that you won’t feel guilty about it,” Chanyeol said, “What’s your favorite food?”

“I like all foods,” D.O. said. “I like spaghetti, and curry noodles, and anything meat-related. What is yours?”

“Uh,” Chanyeol said thinking for a moment. “Anything meat-related in general,” he answered, agreeing with D.O. on that. “So, what does an assassin do for fun? When they’re not at the gun range practicing.”

“In my spare time, I like to watch movies.”

“Really?” Chanyeol said, not having imagined that at all. For some reason, he imagined that in his spare time, D.O. practiced martial arts or something that kept him in great shape while keeping his instincts sharp. “What kind of movies?”

“All kinds. I’ll watch any movie.”

“You’ll eat any food, you’ll watch any movie, you’ll kill any person. Is there anything you’re actually selective about?”

“Friends,” he answered, and Chanyeol’s eyebrows furrowed, not sure how an assassin could have friends in the first place. As far as he knew, they were all loners.

“I thought assassins didn’t make friends,” he pointed out.

“There you go,” D.O. said.

“That doesn’t count though,” Chanyeol waved off. “You’re selective about your clothes. You’re always wearing all black. Do you even own a piece of clothing that isn’t black?”

“No,” D.O. said.

Chanyeol waited for more explanation, and should have expected when none came. They ate their soup in silence for a few moments and then Chanyeol approached the subject of his father.

“I let my father know that you’d be staying on to help out further. He made me promise that I’d let you leave once it was over.”

“Your father is very kind.”

“He likes you a lot. I think he likes you more than me. I have a theory that you’re probably the son he wishes he’d had.”

“You’re the son he’s proud to have,” D.O. told him. “He doesn’t wish for what he already has.”

“But the way he lights up when you visit him. He doesn’t do that when I visit.”

“It’s only because he thought he’d never see me again. When you’ve lost something, and it returns, it has that effect.”

“I ran away from home, and I still haven’t gotten that reaction from him.”

“Because he never lost you. He knew where you were. He visited you often. You want to make this more than it is. Why?”

“I don’t want to make this more than it is. I’m just seeing it for what it is.”

“You’re seeing it wrong. You want to believe your father doesn’t care for you because then it makes it easier for you to walk away, but the reality is, you mean the world to him, and you should cherish that instead of taking it for granted and acting as if he doesn’t feel that way about you.”

Chanyeol hated how much his words stung, and he realized it was because they were true. He felt exposed and like a child that had embarrassed himself in front of a wiser, mature adult.

“I get jealous easily,” Chanyeol admitted, feeling the need to explain himself in his defense. “I saw the way my father interacted with you and got jealous.”

“There is nothing to be jealous about. I never had a father,” D.O. confessed, and Chanyeol paid attention, grateful for a tidbit about his mysterious assassin turned subadvisor. “Your father is like a father to me. He gave me an opportunity when I had none, and I am forever grateful to him for that. He always treated me kindly and with respect, even when I was a child who thought I deserved neither. You are very lucky to have him, and your jealousy shows that you are not aware of how lucky you are. You need to fix that.”

Chanyeol wanted to defend himself further, not caring for the unsolicited advice once again, but deep down inside he knew that D.O. was right. He still kept going back and forth between hating him and wanting him to do things like fix his messed-up hair, and it was starting to drive Chanyeol crazy.

He almost replied with “Don’t tell me what to fix,” but kept the words back, knowing he’d just end up sounding like a spoiled, whiny child again, so instead he focused on the information D.O. had given him to work with.

“How does a twelve-year-old end up needing an opportunity of learning how to become an assassin?”

“You haven’t earned that much of my respect yet to tell you my story.”

“Okay, then what did your mom think when you told her about your new job?”

D.O. hesitated and his eyes turned downcast for a moment, the first time Chanyeol had ever seen a visceral reaction from the young assassin.

“You definitely haven’t earned that much respect,” he said, continuing to look down at this soup as he ate another spoonful.

“Fine,” Chanyeol said with a huff, and he turned his attention back to his own soup, occasionally looking up to see how D.O.’s perfectly heart-shaped lips would push out when he blew against the hot liquid.

Chanyeol licked his own lips at the sight, and when D.O. looked up at him, Chanyeol looked back down immediately to his own soup, wondering why it felt like had suddenly been caught doing something he shouldn’t have been doing at all.


	2. (Waxing Gibbous)

Jongdae had not been privy to any briefings on the affairs of the family, and he decided to call a meeting of his own in his office, wanting to confirm things he had heard around the house. Minseok and Yixing sat in the chairs across from him, filling him in on what he had missed.

He hadn’t liked finding out that the Park’s held a meeting for the allies and didn’t invite the Kim’s to attend.

“They probably figured they would disseminate the information to us,” Minseok shrugged. “Since we’re technically part of their family now.”

“Yeah, but there was more information that probably came out as the families discussed things and asked questions,” Jongdae pointed out. “That would be important for us to know too.”

“I’m pretty sure they consider our family to be on a need-to-know basis. If they think we need to know something, they’ll let us know,” Minseok said. “Otherwise, it’s not our business.”

“We’re not a high family anymore,” Yixing reminded him. “We’re under the Park family and their rules. We’re no different than their security staff or operations and so on.”

“Do our allies not consider us a high family anymore either?” Jongdae asked them.

“Well, for starters, they’re no longer our allies,” Minseok said. “They’ll continue to interact with us if we have business deals with them, but they won’t be initiating new ones, and any concerns they have with us will be raised with the Park’s instead.”

“Okay,” Jongdae said, feeling sad that he had been the cause of this, and then he sighed because he could do nothing else. His therapist had him working on calming techniques to better handle information that did not sit well with him. Sighing helped. “So then, what about this whole cop situation?”

“I have a meeting with Jongin to give him what we know as of now,” Minseok replied. “Our guy is having a hard time getting some of the information we need, but he’s working on it. As of now, he’s confirmed what Baekhyun told us – the police reports were falsified and it was part of the operation that Jongin uncovered. However, Jongin didn’t uncover that part of the operation, so our guy’s trying to figure out if there are other parts of the operation that we don’t know about.”

“Is that operation off the table now?” Jongdae asked.

“No,” Minseok said. “He said the guy in charge of everything is out for blood. He wants to bring all of us down. Allies and enemies alike. He wants to bring down the entire high family structure. He still plans on going through with it, but obviously, he’s having to change things around since we’re aware of it.”

“How do we bring him down?” Jongdae asked, more to himself.

“We don’t,” Minseok said, “But those of us reporting to the Park family will help with whatever plan gets drawn up.”

“Right,” Jongdae said, and he sighed again.  “So, there’s no plan yet then?”

“Nope.”

“Are you going to let me know the plan when there is one?”

“Probably not,” Minseok said.

“You have yourself to focus on,” Yixing reminded him.

“I don’t know if feeling useless really helps my situation,” Jongdae pointed out.

“You’re not useless,” Yixing told him. “You’re just not needed for this particular operation.”

“What am I going to be needed for? When the time comes, and I’m no longer being watched 24 hours a day, and I can start living normal again, what exactly am I going to be doing?”

“Helping your dad run the businesses for the Park family’s profit,” Minseok told him.

“Can’t wait,” Jongdae said, and he shook his head because everything was bad and all that was in front of him just felt worse.

“I know it’s not what you want,” Yixing said. “But the reality of today does not have to be the reality of tomorrow.”

“What kind of Confucian quote moment are you having?” Minseok said looking at Yixing like he couldn’t be serious. “Did you get that from a fortune cookie?”

“Maybe,” Yixing shrugged, “But it’s true.”

“How did your lunch with Junmyeon go?” Minseok then asked Yixing. “You never told me.”

“It was fine. He said what you’d expect, that he knows this situation isn’t ideal for us, but that he valued my opinion and insight on anything and that his door was always open.”

“How generous of him,” Minseok smarted.

“I didn’t say much in return. I wasn’t going to tell him that I don’t feel it’s right for me to share things about our family to him, even if his family is in charge. So, I just nodded and thanked him.  I didn’t offer him much else.”

“They’re in such a power position over us and they’re all getting off on it,” Minseok grumbled more to himself. “Whatever, it’s fine,” he then stated. “Let’s just do our best here.”

“We will,” Yixing said.

And they both looked at Jongdae who had just been watching them and getting more and more annoyed that all of them were having to deal with any of this.

“Yes,” Jongdae said, and nodded. “Let’s do our best.”

He wanted to do his best. He wanted to do his best to ensure that Yixing was right, and that the reality of their family’s tomorrow was very different than the reality of their today.

***

His parents had been fighting more and more since the Park’s visited, and this time Jongdae stumbled upon an ugly argument on his way to the kitchen to find a late-night snack. He paused and put his hand up for his bodyguards to pause as well, listening to the raised voices coming from the dining room.

“You’ve completely given up,” his mother yelled at his father, “Because you know this is all your fault. You won’t take any responsibility for anything because you know you did this. You did this!  You and your greed!”

“It wasn’t greed,” he fired back, his voice booming, though sounding a bit tired. “I did this for the family. I thought we deserved more. I wanted my children to have a future and a legacy that they could be proud of.”

“Your daughter died because of you!” She shouted at him. “Your son is barely alive now because of you! This is the legacy that your greed left behind. If Jongdae is successful in killing himself like he wants to, we’ll have lost everything.”

“Why was it so wrong for me to think that I could give everyone better?” He fought back. “The Park family was not built alone. It wouldn’t have risen as high as it did without my help. Why was it so wrong for me to do the same for my own family as I had done for another?”

“Because you were never as brilliant as him,” she spat and Jongdae winced, knowing that would be hard for anyone to hear, especially his father. “You didn’t have the talent and mind to do what he did. That’s why you were the helper. Your ego got so large that you believed you were someone you weren’t.”

“You supported me back then. You said I could do it.”

“Because that’s what wives do.”

“Do not act as if you did not want this as much as I did.”

“I didn’t. All I wanted was for you to come home and stop working so hard. All your children wanted was for you to spend more time with them. They both adored you, and you spent more time in that home than your own. You felt guilty, so you started taking them with you, but then you felt guilty that they weren’t getting the same attention and privileges as the young Park. So, you used that to fuel this ridiculous dream that your ego had concocted, when all your children wanted was for you to come home and play games with them, and eat dinner with them, and listen to their stories. You did this. You did this to us. And now you can’t fix it. You refuse to fix it. We’re back to where we started only this time without our children being happy, or being at all.”

“How do I fix something that has no solution?” He asked. “There is no solution. We are at the mercy of the Park family just to keep us from losing more lives. Our family has no legacy. My daughter is gone, and my son is not mentally well. We have no grandchildren, nor does it seem we ever will. And even then, we have reduced manpower, most of which is being put to use for the Park family’s benefits. What is the solution?”

“I don’t know. I’m not the one that was under the impression that I was brilliant when I wasn’t,” she spat at him, and Jongdae shook his head and looked back at the bodyguards, then walked past them to head back up to his room.

He had no appetite after hearing his mother berate his father, and he couldn’t imagine what guilt lay heavy on his father’s heart.

He paused before heading into his room and looked down the hall at Mina’s door.  He hadn’t been in there since he had searched for her cards, and he hadn’t been allowed to or able to visit her at the cemetery. He turned and headed there instead, walking in and turning on the light, her room still as he had left it.

He sat on her bed and pulled one of her decorative pillows to his chest, squeezing it tight and smelling it, wondering if he could smell any trace of her scent still upon it. He didn’t, but somehow the room as a whole still smelled of her, a subtle hint of fruity perfumes lingered, even after just more than a year had passed.

He looked at his bodyguards, who stood by the door staring at him, both looking on edge and a bit concerned by this act.

“I’m sorry,” he told them. “I’m not in here to do anything crazy. It’s just, I usually visit my sister at the cemetery to talk to her when things aren’t great, and since I can’t, I thought I’d come in here and do it. So, I’m going to talk to her for a little bit. I promise it’s not me going crazy. Or crazier. Or whatever.”

The bodyguards both nodded, and one of them offered to stay outside while the other stayed inside to keep an eye on things. The remaining guard sat at Mina’s desk, turning slightly to give Jongdae the most privacy he could provide, unable to really offer any at all. Jongdae was grateful for the symbolic action just the same.

“So, per usual, things aren’t great,” he began, looking up for a moment, then thinking if she was there with him, she’d be sitting on the bed with him, so he looked ahead instead. “We sorta lost our family. Well not completely, but we’re not a high family anymore, and I know that’s really disappointing to you.”

He sighed and then continued.

“I know we let you down. Dad let you down, and I let you down, and neither of us are handling that well. It must be a genetic thing that runs in our family, having a dream and thinking you’re about to attain it, only to have it pulled out from under you. I just keep thinking how different everything would be if you were still here. Or mostly that they wouldn’t be different. I’d still be in medical school, you’d be in charge of everything, we’d still be a high family, mom and dad would still be happy. I can’t do this.”

He dropped his head on the pillow, frustrated and shaking as a few tears threatened to spill. Why was everything so hopeless?

“Minseok is so upset right now,” he told her as he sniffled and tried to pull the tears back. “He’s trying to not be, but he is. I can tell that he wants to blame me for everything. He’s just always been too nice to me to do that. Everyone’s always been too nice to me. Even Yoona. She told me the craziest thing about you, and I didn’t want to believe her, but Yixing confirmed it. Why would you tell her she wasn’t good enough for me? She made me so happy. She was smart, and she made me laugh, and she challenged me when I was being too cocky or too spoiled. Why wouldn’t that be good enough?”

He took a deep breath to try and calm himself a bit.

“I feel so guilty that I brought Yixing into this mess. He doesn’t deserve this at all. And I don’t deserve him. I know you didn’t really get to know him as well as you wanted to, but he’s an amazing person, and he’s the only person that’s been keeping me sane this year. I have a new bodyguard who is literally probably laughing at me right now for saying that since no one in this house thinks I’m sane anymore, but I am, and that is primarily due to Yixing. I feel I need to repay him for that, but I don’t know how.”

He paused and sat there in silence for a moment, waiting for the reply that would never come.

In the past, spending time in his sister’s room involved singing along to whatever music she was playing and talking with her as she played with her hair styles, or played an online game, or planned her social calendar for the week. She always made time for him, and she always listened to him, having an incredible patience with him that even his own parents didn’t tend to have after a while since he spoke so loudly and so frequently.

“Your sister makes me want a sister,” Chanyeol had told him one time, while they had been at the Park estate playing a new video game Chanyeol had just gotten. They couldn’t have been more than eight or nine year’s old at the time.

“My sister is the coolest,” Jongdae had said with a big smile, because it was a fact.

“I know,” Chanyeol said, “That’s why I want one. I told my parents to get me one and they laughed at me.”

Jongdae had laughed at him too, and Chanyeol had playfully hit him with the game controller.

“You can borrow my sister when you need her,” Jongdae had offered.

“Okay,” Chanyeol said. “It wouldn’t have worked anyway if my parents had one now because I’d be so much older. They needed to already have one, so I’ll just pretend yours is mine.”

“No, I said you could borrow her not pretend she was your sister. Big difference.”

“Whatever, I bet she’d rather be my sister anyway.”

“No way!” Jongdae had said, though it had come out as a loud whine, and the two boys had playfully fought about it the rest of the game.

Now he sat there thinking about his parents’ argument again, and about the bitterness and sadness of the lost dreams of their family.

“I’m going to fix this,” he said to her. “I don’t know how, but I will. I’m getting our family back, or what’s left of it. I know you won’t help me, but I like to think I carry some of your spirit within me, and that’s what I’m going to use. We’re going to be a high family again, and I’m going to be the head of the family, and there will be a Kim legacy. I’m done letting you and everyone else that I love down. I’m putting an end to broken dreams in this family.”

Jongdae put her pillow back and stood up, the bodyguard also up and heading toward the door once he had sensed his movement.

The bodyguard opened the door for him and Jongdae headed straight to his office and not his room.

***

Something had been bugging Jongdae about Mina’s bank accounts. Not only had there been no indication that the accountant had noticed the withdraws, but it really kept bothering him that her savings account was getting weekly deposits. He had checked with Minseok, who confirmed that he too only had two accounts, and that one was a checking and one was a savings, and his savings had funds deposited biweekly like Jongdae’s.

It was when he was about to shut his laptop off and finally get to bed when he stumbled upon an archived folder. He considered waiting until tomorrow to click on it, but out of the habit of the repetition of the act, his finger double clicked on it anyway, and when the folder opened, he found the accounts of people who were no longer with the family.

He froze as he saw Mina’s name, and when he clicked on the accounts, he found the answer to what had been bothering him. These were the two accounts that the family had set up for her, as they had for everyone else. And they were empty and closed.

He went back to the three accounts that he had found and started digging further, and then he realized he wouldn’t get real answers unless he could fully log into them. So, he navigated to the bank websites associated with each account and logged in successfully after he figured she used his birthday for her password as well. He had only been half right. It had been his name and birthday combined.

And then he stared, both impressed and confused, as he found his answer by clicking on her account details. Mina had opened these three accounts herself.

No wonder the accountant couldn’t access them, Jongdae thought to himself. It’s probably why the accountant paid no attention to them altogether.

And then Jongdae found a new bit of information that made his heart skip a beat.

All three were joint accounts, and the other person on the account, was him.

***

With not much to do while being confined to the home, Jongdae and Yixing had taken up daily chess games in the entertainment room, using it more as time to be alone away from bodyguards and just catch up, or talk about nothing important, or sometimes not talk at all.

Today, however, Jongdae had a lot to talk about.

“How could you be a joint account holder if you don’t remember ever going to the bank with her to open the account?” Yixing asked, as confused by the information Jongdae had found as he was.

Jongdae shrugged and said, “I have no idea. And also, why didn’t she tell me about it? She had to have put me on the accounts for a reason, right?”

“And if they were her accounts, why did she need three of them?  Why couldn’t just one do?”

“And why a separate account just for her trip?”

“And where is the money in the savings account coming from that it hasn’t been stopped yet?”

That one had baffled Jongdae the most, and he had found no leads when he tried to research where it was coming from.

“I can’t figure it out,” Jongdae replied.

“This is really weird,” Yixing said.

“I know. I don’t know what to think of any of it.”

“Your sister certainly had many secrets,” Yixing said as he moved his bishop. “Inadvertently, she helped you with your dilemma of paying Baekhyun. Those accounts were yours all along.”

“Too bad I’m not going to be calling upon his services anytime soon or needing to pay him,” Jongdae said wishing he could at least get back to doing that if nothing else. Something about training with Baekhyun had started to help him learn more about himself in a way.

“There is a substantial amount of money in that savings account,” Yixing said. “What was she saving for?”

The question lingered between them, the both of them seeming to consider all the possibilities of Mina feeling she needed to set up her own savings account, as if the one their father had set up for her hadn’t been enough for whatever she wanted to do.

“That just reminded me,” Jongdae then said, as his thoughts jumped from one matter to another, “When the Park’s traded our hostage to the Son’s, did they get our money back for us?”

“Well, yes,” Yixing said, “But they took a percentage for their troubles.”

“Of course they did,” Jongdae said moving his knight.

“It was sizeable, but less than half,” Yixing said studying the board.

“I made a decision,” Jongdae said, also studying the board while Yixing considered his next move.

“And what’s that?”

“I’m going to make us a high family again, and I’m going to be the head.”

Yixing looked up at him, and Jongdae lifted his gaze as well, his friend seeming to read his eyes for more information.

“You only need to focus on yourself right now,” Yixing said.

“I am,” Jongdae replied. “This is what I want. I want to do this for my family. I ruined things, and I will fix them, and when I do, I’m going to make sure that we are a powerful high family, no longer in the shadow of the Park family.”

“I told you that any discussions like that should not be had until you are mentally better to have them.”

“I’m obviously going to need your help.”

“I’m still your advisor, and you need to listen to me.”

“I’m tired of everyone treating me like a child,” Jongdae snapped, “I know I screwed up. I know I’ve been going through some things, but I can make decisions and know what I want to do about my situation. Half the people in this house treat me like they’re scared to say anything to me and the other half coddle me. Please be the one person that treats me normal.”

Yixing stared at him, and Jongdae imagined he was considering his options before replying.

“Please?” He said again, needing a confirmation.

“This is hard,” Yixing admitted. “Not as your advisor, but as your friend. I really want you in a better place mentally. It scares me what you’ve done. It’s not just your parents that thought they were losing you. Minseok and I had a very serious conversation about what we would have done if you had been successful that day in doing it. He got really shaken up by it. Losing both of his cousins, the two family members he was closest to and loved the most, he didn’t think he’d keep it together himself.”

“He and Mina were really close,” Jongdae told him.

“I know. He told me all about how he was ready to follow her lead and help her make the Kim family one of the most powerful. They were similar people in a lot of ways.”

“Very similar,” Jongdae confirmed. “Do you regret agreeing to be my advisor now?”

“No,” Yixing answered, assurance in his tone. “I only regret that I couldn’t help you more while you were training so everything didn’t lead to this. I wasn’t skilled enough and hadn’t learned enough yet. I am very sorry about that.”

“How can you be sorry about something you had no control over? You had no idea what anything you signed up for entailed. Don’t be sorry.”

“I want to treat you like you’re normal,” Yixing told him. “I feel I’ve been doing my best to do that, and being honest with you and giving you my advice, is me treating you like you’re normal. I’m sorry that the advice isn’t what you want to hear right now, but it’s based on the current situation and my assessment of it.”

“Then I need you to start thinking bigger.”

“Dae, you know I will help you with whatever it is you’re planning to do. That’s not even a question. But I can’t in good conscience not give you the advice that I think is right while you do it. You’re just going to have to accept it.”

Jongdae nodded, understanding, and said, “Okay, I will. And I’ll do you one better and even promise you that I will consider your advice when you tell me something I don’t want to hear.”

“Good,” Yixing said, moving his next piece into position. “So, what’s your plan?”

“I’m working on it, but the biggest thing we need for autonomy is money. We have a lot of it, but now the Parks are taking a huge cut of our profits. That’s going to be my main focus at the moment, trying to figure out how to get us the funds to recruit more personnel.”

“And once we do, then what?” Yixing asked. “You’re just going to walk into Chanyeol’s office and tell him the arrangement is over?”

Jongdae moved his king to a new position and called out, “Check.” And then he nodded, “That’s the plan.”

“That’s the plan,” Yixing said, and then he studied the board again. “Maybe Mina has some other hidden accounts we need to find.”

“If only,” Jongdae said, and he felt better about things, feeling as if he was finally making something happen to start toward his goal.


	3. (Two Moons)

Kyungsoo enjoyed his egg bread as he sat beside Baekhyun in the park and watched him read through a book of herbal medicines.

“You really haven’t found any new work?” Kyungsoo asked him. “Or are you that invested in your future all of a sudden?”

“I’ll have you know that Jongdae contacted me this morning for a job to do, but since I was in the middle of this chapter, I thought I should finish it.”

“What kind of job?”

“He wants me to trace a bank account. Apparently, his sister has an account that’s getting regular weekly deposits and he wants to know where they’re coming from. I’m on the case!”

“You’re not on the case. You’re reading about herbal medicines.”

Baekhyun made a light scoffing noise and hit Kyungsoo’s knee with his own.

“I’ll be on it after I finish this chapter. Herbology is very important.”

Kyungsoo knew that the herbal medicine shopkeeper had told Baekhyun that one day, when the time came and he passed on to his next life, he would be leaving the shop and his Academy duties to Baekhyun to continue. Baekhyun took this very seriously, wanting to make sure that he didn’t let the shopkeeper down even in his afterlife. Kyungsoo knew Baekhyun felt partially as if it was a debt he’d have to eternally pay off for having the nerve to try and steal from an Academy associate in the first place, but Kyungsoo also knew that part of Baekhyun felt as if the shopkeeper was looking out for him and wanted to leave him something, almost as a father would have done.

Kyungsoo finished his egg bread and stared out at the kids running around the playground and the older kids in the skatepark, trying to impress each other with their cool tricks.

It was in this park that Kyungsoo had first met the young man that now sat beside him. 

Kyungsoo had been sitting on a park bench and enjoying a day in the sun, trying to get away from the worries in his life, when a young floppy-haired boy had bounced over and sat right beside him.

“Hi,” he had said, and Kyungsoo had stared at him, unsure of how to respond to that much sunshine attacking him out of nowhere. He had noticed that Baekhyun wore an old worn shirt and even more worn jeans, his sneakers with several holes in them, but otherwise he had appeared well kept together for the most part.

“Do Kyungsoo, right?” The young man had said, and Kyungsoo’s eyes had narrowed, ready to run if necessary.

“Who are you?”

“Byun Baekhyun,” he said, giving him a quick bow, “I’ve been following you for days, but you finally sat someplace where it made sense for me to approach you and talk to you. Thanks!”

“What do you want?”

“Oh, right,” Baekhyun said, and nodded to himself, “The Academy heard you were released from your high family duties.” Then Baekhyun paused and thought for a moment. “Does that make sense to you? That’s what I was told to say, but I don’t know what that means.”

“I’m not interested in The Academy,” Kyungsoo said, wondering if this was a joke of some sort. In all his learnings about The Academy from his mentor, he had never remembered a part that mentioned a bubbly young boy in worn out clothes.

Baekhyun sucked in a breath between his teeth and thought for a moment, “Right, there’s an answer to that. Oh, they’re interested in you. They know your potential and they think you have what it takes to become an Academy-level assassin.”

“I have no interest,” Kyungsoo said, and he stood up to walk away from this conversation, but Baekhyun stood up with him.

“They pay exceptionally well.”

“If they pay so exceptionally well, then why are you wearing worn out clothes?”

“Oh, I don’t work for them,” Baekhyun explained. “I’m repaying a debt to the shopkeeper that works for them. It’s actually a long story.”

And in what Kyungsoo would learn was true Baekhyun fashion, he told him the long story.

“You are so strange,” Kyungsoo said, shaking his head and walking away from the talkative man, but of course, Baekhyun had decided to walk with him.

“People say that,” Baekhyun agreed. “But you’re strange too. When you look at people it’s scary.”

Kyungsoo looked at him and Baekhyun leaned away from him, laughing nervously.

“That was scary,” he said with a small laugh.

“I value my alone time. Please leave me to it,” Kyungsoo said.

“But I have to get you to join The Academy,” Baekhyun said with a pout. “Or at least consider it.”

“I’m not going to consider it,” Kyungsoo said, and he stopped walking to face him again. “I left the family because I decided I don’t want to kill people anymore. Let The Academy know that so they can stop wasting their time.”

“Huh,” Baekhyun said as he considered this. “I guess that makes sense. Like you don’t kill people because you have to, for self-defense and stuff, you just have to kill them because you’re expected to.”

“And I don’t do that anymore.”

“Right, got it,” Baekhyun said with a thumbs-up, and then his eyes widened, and he smiled really big as something caught his attention.

Kyungsoo looked over to see a food cart vendor, then looked back at Baekhyun.

“It’s a sweet potato cart,” Baekhyun said. “I want one. I’ll be right back.”

Kyungsoo knew this was his shot to escape away from this strange boy, but something about his enthusiasm for the cart made him watch as Baekhyun stood in line and then spoke with the man at the cart. He then dug into his jean pockets and looked disappointed at the man as he let him know he didn’t appear to have money on him. Kyungsoo was fascinated as he spoke and laughed with the man some more, and then when the man gave him a sweet potato regardless.

Baekhyun practically skipped back over to Kyungsoo, taking a bite out of his sweet potato and standing back in front of Kyungsoo.

“It’s sooo good,” he said, “Do you want some?”

“Did you just steal that sweet potato?” Kyungsoo asked him.

“Ah,” Baekhyun said and laughed a little nervously. “It’s okay. He was very nice. Sometimes people aren’t nice and they just tell me to go away. I told him he’d have good fortune for his kindness.”

Kyungsoo sighed and walked over to the vendor, asking him how much the sweet potato was and paying him double for his troubles, apologizing to him for his friend. He hadn’t been sure how else to refer to him without raising the suspicions of the vendor, who it turned out was really kind and offered Kyungsoo a sweet potato as well, which Kyungsoo politely declined with a bow.

“Why did you do that?” Baekhyun asked him when Kyungsoo had returned to his side.

“Because it’s not right,” Kyungsoo said. “That man is trying to make a living, and you’re cutting into his profits.”

“Hm,” Baekhyun said offering Kyungsoo a piece of the sweet warmth he had now paid for in double, “I know that’s true. I usually pay when I have the money.”

Kyungsoo went ahead and took the piece and savored the sweetness. It really was a wonderful treat.

“Does the shopkeeper not pay you for… oh, never mind, I forgot the part where you tried to rob him so this is you paying off your debt.”

“He lets me shower at his place when I really need to and stay the night if it’s too cold outside, so he does pay me in a way.”

Kyungsoo raised his eyebrow at this and asked, “Where do you normally stay then?”

“Oh, wherever. Usually in abandoned homes and buildings, but not ones that are abandoned because of fire. I don’t like those.”

“So, you’re homeless.”

“Well it depends how you look at it,” Baekhyun said with a smile. “Am I homeless or is the whole world my home? I like to think the whole world is my home, and I can always try out new locations, which is nice.”

“And sometimes you have money? How do you get money?”

“I do jobs here and there for people who need things done. It’s not like a crazy amount of money, but sometimes it’ll be enough for a motel room for the night and a pretty good dinner.”

“And maybe a new shirt?”

“Ah,” Baekhyun said looking down at this shirt. “Yeah, it might be time for me to get rid of this one and get a new one.”

Kyungsoo had always thought that he had been given a raw deal in life, but talking to Baekhyun made him realize that things could have been even worse. He had no idea how the man handled things with a smile, but he supposed that it was better than the alternative.

“Well I wish you luck with that then,” Kyungsoo said. “I should be going. You’re not going to follow me anymore now that you have your answer, right?”

“Nope. I’m all done with you. And The Academy will be done with you after I deliver your message.”

“Good,” he said, “Are you going to go tell them now?”

“No, later tonight.”

“Why can’t you go and tell them now?” Kyungsoo asked.

“Oh, because I’m going to go lay under that tree and take a nap. I’m really tired. Following you is hard work. Also, it’s daytime and a lot of families are out, so the cops won’t bother me about it. Thank you for the sweet potato, Do Kyungsoo,” Baekhyun said with a bow to him, and then he waved with a smile before heading to the tree.

Kyungsoo turned to leave, and only made it half a block before he turned around and went back to find Baekhyun, who true to his word, lay under the tree, using his arms as a pillow as he appeared to nap.

He looked at him for a moment and watched him, thinking how he looked so young and peaceful, and then thinking that the boy was probably starving and the sweet potato had been the first thing he had probably eaten all day and still he had shared a piece with Kyungsoo.

If there was one thing Kyungsoo’s mother had always taught him, it was the importance of kindness to others.

“People will not always be kind to you,” she had once told him, “But it is always important to be kind regardless. No one’s life is perfect, and sometimes a bit of kindness may be what they need to make it through that day.”

Kyungsoo had blinked away the memory, her image in his mind causing too much pain for him to dwell upon.

“The tree is giving me enough shade,” Baekhyun said, his eyes blinking open as he looked up at Kyungsoo. “You don’t have to give me more.”

“I could use a roommate,” Kyungsoo told him.

“Ah, I could find you one,” Baekhyun said sitting up, excited by this, “You won’t even have to pay me much for it. What are your requirements?”

“Homeless, in need of new clothes, talks too much, shares stolen goods with me.”

Apparently, Kyungsoo had found words to say that could render Baekhyun speechless. He hadn’t thought it possible, but the young man just looked at him with a small smile and unsure eyes.

“Just give me what you can each month,” Kyungsoo said. “Any little bit helps.”

“I probably wouldn’t pass your background check,” Baekhyun hesitated.

“I’m a career assassin,” Kyungsoo reminded him.

“Oh, good point,” Baekhyun said. “But, you don’t really know me.”

“What have you eaten today?”

“A sweet potato?”

“And?”

“Just the sweet potato so far.”

“You’re hungry, your eyes practically jumped out of your face at the sight of that cart, you did what it took to get one, and you still shared it with me. I think I know enough about you to decide you could be my roommate.”

“I… uh, okay,” Baekhyun said, a bit shyly, which amused Kyungsoo.

“Okay,” Kyungsoo nodded. “So, let’s go get your stuff. Where do you keep whatever you have?”

“Oh, I don’t have anything,” Baekhyun said.

“You don’t stash an extra pair of pants or shoes somewhere?”

“No, all I have is on me.”

Kyungsoo nodded then said, “Okay, well then let’s go get something to eat, then I’ll take you to the store so you can get a new outfit or something. And a toothbrush.”

“Oh, I have one,” Baekhyun said, excited as he pulled a mini toothbrush out from his jeans pocket. “I don’t always have toothpaste though.”

“We’ll get you a new toothbrush,” Kyungsoo said, “We can share my toothpaste. I only have one bathroom anyway, so we’re going to have to share it.”

“Okay,” Baekhyun said, putting his toothbrush back in his pocket. “Only one bedroom too?” He asked.

“Two bedrooms, but one is empty, so you can sleep on the couch until I get you a bed.”

“Oh, I’ll get my own bed,” Baekhyun said. “When I get more money. You don’t have to buy me a bed. You don’t have to buy me anything.”

“I need to buy you clothes and food at least.”

“Okay, but I’ll pay you back.”

“That’s not necessary, but do what you like.”

“I’ll pay you back,” he said.

Now, all these years later, Kyungsoo looked at Baekhyun who had finally finished his chapter and now was working on eating his own egg bread. Baekhyun had ended up paying him back for everything – even the toothbrush.

“So, Chanyeol wants to see me tonight about some plan he and Jongin came up with. I don’t know the details about it yet, but I’ll call you later to let you know.”

“You must be excited. More Chanyeol time,” Baekhyun teased. “What exactly does a subadvisor do again?”

“Shut up,” Kyungsoo said, hoping the warmth on his cheeks had only been internal and had not resulted into a blush. “He’s finally started to do what he’s supposed to be doing, so I’m helping however I can.”

“It’s weird, because even when he wasn’t doing what he was supposed to be doing, you were eager to help.”

“I wasn’t eager.”

“Oh, Chanyeol needs me tonight, so I’m going to head over. Chanyeol’s coming up with some things, so I’m going to spend the night in the bungalow. Chanyeol came up with a really good idea today, I’m going to spend extra time with him as a reward so he knows I really liked his good idea.”

“I have a very specific reason for spending time with him.”

“It’s because he’s tall, isn’t it?”

“No,” Kyungsoo said, slapping his shoulder, which caused Baekhyun to yelp then laugh. “We’re trying to bring down the person responsible for the attack on his father.”

“Nice job reminding yourself of that,” Baekhyun told him with a thumbs-up.

“It’s the reason. There’s no other reason. You’ve known me long enough to know that I am not interested in people like that.”

“I’ve known you long enough to know you’ve never acted like this about anyone before.”

“What am I acting like?”

Baekhyun smiled at Kyungsoo and patted his knee.

“Don’t stay in denial for too long,” Baekhyun told him, “Just go for it. We’re both lonely enough as it is. If you have a chance to not be, then you should take it.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Okay. Hm, maybe I should concoct you an herbal romance tea. I bet there’s a recipe in here somewhere,” Baekhyun said, opening his book again.

“Don’t be stupid. Chanyeol is a spoiled, privileged, entitled child that good tea did not die for to be wasted on.”

“Wow, that was passionate,” Baekhyun said, looking at him with wide eyes and a wide smile to accompany it.

“It’s true.”

“Then it must be his height that has you under his spell. I understand. I was supposed to be tall too, but I ate too much rice this one time…”

“Yes, I know, and I’ve told you a million times that that’s not how it works, and it wasn’t the rice’s fault you’re short. Also, I know for a fact that Chanyeol ate a ton of rice growing up, and it didn’t stunt his growth.”

“What a cute thing to know about your crush,” Baekhyun cooed.

“He’s not my…” Kyungsoo squeezed his hands together and knew he must have looked angry, because Baekhyun sprung up to get away from him.

“Ah, just kidding. I mean, not kidding, but I’ll say I’m kidding. Don’t kill me,” he said, laughing as he jogged in place, as if being in the motion would help him if he really needed to run.

“I hate you,” Kyungsoo said, and Baekhyun just laughed more.

He did not have a crush. He had never had a crush. And his first crush was certainly not going to be on someone as insufferable as Park Chanyeol.


	4. (Waning Crescent)

Chanyeol had not cared at all for what Jongin and Junmyeon had told him in their meeting yesterday, and he strongly hoped for a miracle that allowed his father to be instantly better so he could get out of there and leave this difficult stuff to him.

“It’s what your father would do,” Junmyeon had explained. “Not because he wanted to but because he had to. Unlike you, your father is not a big fan of social events. You, however, used to love them. You’re going to have to tap into that part of you again.”

“I don’t understand why Jongin can’t do this,” Chanyeol had tried.

“I’m not the head of the family,” Jongin reminded him. “We got you on the invite list as a representative for your father. You don’t want to know the amount of strings I had to pull to make that happen last minute.”

“I could’ve saved you the trouble by telling you in advance that I don’t want to go to this thing.”

“We don’t have many options right now,” Junmyeon reminded him.

“But I thought the Kim’s were going to get us the information we need to bring this guy down.”

“No,” Jongin said, “They’re getting us the information so we can be prepared for any attacks from them. The only way we can stop this guy is from above. Someone gave him the directive or permission to do this. You need to talk to the Commissioner General and find out who that was and how we get him to back off.”

“Who just walks up to the Commissioner General and does that?” Chanyeol said, exasperated and motioning wildly with his hands.

“Your father does,” Junmyeon said. “Any good head of a family does. You can do this, Chanyeol.”

“No, I can’t,” Chanyeol said, knowing he sounded insolent, but he didn’t care. Walking up to the head of the entire police force in the country was not something he felt capable of doing.

“He likes your father,” Junmyeon said. “They play golf together and he stays at our hotels all the time. Approach him amiably. Let him ask how your father is doing. Banter with him a bit. Then bring up your concerns and ask him what can be done about it.”

“You make it sound so easy,” Chanyeol said.

“It’s not easy,” Jongin said. “And I wish I could make it easier for you, but the Commissioner General doesn’t have many vices we can use against him. So, you’re either going to have to work your charm or offer him something for his help.”

“Oh, come on,” Chanyeol said, his voice laced with a slight desperation, or maybe it was panic, “Everyone has vices. Find me a vice. Prostitutes? Strippers? Is he a drug addict? Give me anything.”

“None of the above,” Jongin said, looking quite apologetic. “The best I can give you is that he goes to the casinos from time to time, but that’s mostly to cut deals with foreign investors. It’s nothing he’d be too ashamed of if caught.”

“And when is this thing again?” Chanyeol asked with a whine that he knew he had picked up in his youth from hanging out too much with Jongdae.

“Tomorrow night,” they both said, and Chanyeol hung his head.

Now that tomorrow was here, Chanyeol wanted to scream, throw a tantrum, fake sick and disappear all at once.

“I don’t think I can do this,” he said to his father, as he visited him that day, hoping to get out of it, and if not, then to get insight.

“Of course you can do this,” the man said, sitting up in a chair instead of his bed. He was stronger and looked so much better that Chanyeol wondered if maybe he could make the appearance instead of him. “You handle heads of families fine. This is no different.”

“This seems different. This seems bigger.”

“The Commissioner General is not a foe of the Park family,” his father reminded him. “But he must keep his nose clean. Your biggest obstacle will be finding out information, or getting him to agree to helping us. But speaking with him will be easy. You do not need to be concerned.”

And yet, concerned best described Chanyeol at this moment.

“How are things going with you?” His father asked him. “I keep hearing that you’re settling in much better.”

“I had no choice but to,” Chanyeol said. “Your recovery will take longer than we hoped. You look a lot better. Almost like you’re fine and can run around the house if you want.”

“If only,” his father said with a warm smile. “I hope to be racing you and Taemin soon enough.”

“He’ll beat us both.”

“Oh, no doubt about that,” his father said with a small chuckle, and he put his hand on his abdomen, a place where one of the bullets had struck. “Still too soon for laughing unfortunately,” his father said.

Chanyeol sighed, upset all over again about this situation.

“I’m going to go tonight and try and end this with the cops. It’s hard, but, they have to pay for what they did to you.”

“Just remember that protection of the family is your first goal. Do not worry so much about revenge so much as making sure no one else in the family suffers this fate.”

“I know,” Chanyeol said, though really, he knew he had needed the reminder and was grateful for it.  Until Taemin had come along, thinking about anyone else but himself hadn’t been a priority. He hated now how selfish he had been when younger.

He kissed his father’s cheek before he left the room, and picked up a snack from the kitchen along the way as he headed back to his office.

When he walked in, D.O. stood speaking with Junmyeon, while Jongin spoke on his phone to someone.

“Did you bring enough for the whole class?” Jongin asked him with a laugh before telling the person on the phone he’d talk to them later and hanging up.

“You know where the kitchen is,” Chanyeol said, sitting at his desk and eating another rice cracker.

“So, D.O. said you wanted to see him?” Junmyeon asked, and Chanyeol nodded, not having told Junmyeon his idea because he didn’t want to deal with the teasing he knew he would get.

“Are you busy tonight?” Chanyeol asked D.O.

“Not that I’m aware of,” he stated, looking at him with his natural intensity.

“I have to go to this thing. And since I can’t take my advisor with me, and I will need advice to do what I need to do, I’ve decided you’ll come with me instead.”

“Wait what?” Jongin asked, head snapping between the two men.

“Oh,” Junmyeon said, looking as if he was trying to suppress a laugh. “Your subadvisor, of course.”

“This is a really serious thing tonight,” Jongin said.

“I know,” Chanyeol said. “You said I get a plus one, right?”

“Yes,” Jongin nodded, “That was for your bodyguard.”

“Problem solved, D.O. can act as both my advisor and bodyguard so he’s going instead.”

Jongin looked at Junmyeon who seemed too amused to properly respond.

Junmyeon cleared his throat and said, “I don’t see why that should be a problem.”

“Then it’s settled,” Chanyeol said, and he turned his attention back to D.O. “Do you own a tux?”

D.O. raised his eyebrows and looked toward Junmyeon, then back at Chanyeol.

“I do not,” he said.

“That’s fine. Jun…”

“I’m on it,” Junmyeon said before Chanyeol could finish, and he put a hand on D.O.’s shoulder to pat it and motioned for him to come with him.

The two left the office, and Jongin stood up from his seat and walked over to the desk, picking up a rice cracker to eat.

“This isn’t a date, you know,” Jongin said to him.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Chanyeol said, feeling almost offended by the comment.

“We need you to focus tonight and get the Commissioner General to help us out.”

“I will do it. If you’re so concerned about it being done, then you should have done it yourself.”

“Again, I’m not in the position to do so. But if I had been, the last person I’d be bringing with me to this event is Chrystal.”

“If you have something to say, just say it.”

“You’ve got a thing for D.O.”

Chanyeol almost threw a rice cracker at him for that comment alone.

“That’s… I can’t believe you just said that. I do not have a thing for my subadvisor.”

“You literally created that position for him. That’s not even a real position.”

“You sound upset that you’re not my subadvisor.”

“Are you really doing this?” Jongin asked him, raising an eyebrow and looking more serious than Chanyeol liked his cousin to look. “I know you better than most people when it comes to these things. I know how you get when you find someone you really like. You talk all day long about how you don’t care to get connected to anyone, but when someone captivates you enough, you fall in fast. This thing with D.O. is already feeling a lot like the latter.”

“First of all, there is no thing with D.O. I just enjoy his company. It’s not that deep. And second, I don’t need relationship advice from you or anyone.”

“Focus,” Jongin told him again, ignoring his statements. “I can’t stop you from taking D.O. with you tonight, but swear to me that he will not be a distraction for you from what you need to do.”

“The fact that you would even question that…”

“Swear it.”

“Fine, I swear,” Chanyeol said annoyed by this entire conversation. “But don’t you ever talk to me like that again. I’m the head and you show me respect. That was out of line.”

Jongin rolled his eyes and said, “Whatever, Chanyeol,” before leaving the office without another word.

Chanyeol lay his head against his hands and tried to rub at the spots of tension forming on his forehead. He really would have preferred to try and get through the night without the added stress of whatever Jongin had just put in his mind. Now he found himself nervous and wanting to fake sick all over again.

***

Chanyeol never liked tuxedos. They were stuffy and made him feel as if he was being held hostage in an outfit.

Junmyeon knocked on his bedroom door and entered, then D.O. entered right behind him and Chanyeol decided that he did like tuxedos. He liked them very much, especially when on the shorter man, who had styled his hair back away from his face and no longer looked so young. Instead, he now looked like a distinguished gentleman who belonged at galas by his side.

“Let me help you with that bowtie,” Junmyeon said walking over to him.

Chanyeol cleared his throat, trying to focus his mind on his task for the evening, and not on the beautiful man that stood just feet away from him.

When he had finished, Junmyeon took a step back to assess him then nodded at him.

“You look the part,” he assured Chanyeol. “Just be yourself. You seem to make the best decisions when you’re comfortable in your own skin.”

“I think my parents would disagree with that assessment,” Chanyeol said.

Junmyeon smiled at him, then looked behind him at D.O.

“Remember, your first job is security, second is advisor. You need to protect him at all costs.”

“I will,” D.O. said, and he gave Chanyeol an intense look that Chanyeol couldn’t quite read, but made his stomach flip just the same.

Junmyeon walked with them to the limo, giving them both final words of advice and seeing them off. Chanyeol was glad that Jongin hadn’t accompanied them, not needing anything else to rattle him that evening.

“I’m so sorry about all of this,” Chanyeol said to D.O. once the car was in motion and they were headed to the gala. It was at a museum, a new exhibit having been dedicated by trustees of the museum foundation or other. Chanyeol didn’t quite care about the details. He didn’t want more information thrusted at him to confuse matters further.

“About all of what?”

“Dragging you to a stuffy event that I’d do anything to not be at.”

“Junmyeon briefed me on the purpose of this. It’s very important that you attend.”

“But it’s hard,” Chanyeol said, maybe whining again, but just slightly he was sure.

D.O. said nothing and Chanyeol looked over at him to see him staring at him, not impressed with his childish display.

“Obviously it’s hard,” Chanyeol said clearing his throat. “But I can do this. I’m doing this. This is going to be done.”

“You’re making it a bigger deal than it is.”

“How? I’m pretty much going to ask the Commissioner General for his help. That man has real problems. Like making sure the entire police force of the country is in line.”

“He’s just a man,” D.O. told him. “Just because he wears a uniform and has a high-profile job, doesn’t make him more important than you or me. His life circumstances put him in the position he’s in, and his life circumstances can take him out of it as well. It’s inconsequential. He’s just a man.”

Chanyeol looked at D.O., partially in awe, surprised by this point of view.

“I guess it’s good to know you take that approach of not thinking people are important with everyone, not just me.”

“I wasn’t raised to believe I was a lesser person because my circumstances didn’t afford me the same privileges as other people.”

“That’s… I respect that,” Chanyeol said, though he had come from the opposite side of things, where he was very much raised to believe he was an important person because of the privileges in his life he had been born with. He had always been his father’s son, and the more powerful his family got, the more people went out of their way to treat him with importance as well.

D.O. said nothing in return, continuing to look at him.

“You must think I’m a spoiled, privileged, entitled asshole,” Chanyeol then noted.

“You weren’t given an opportunity to be anything else,” D.O. told him, and it stung to hear it.

“How do you know exactly what to say to get under my skin?” Chanyeol said exasperated and letting out a big sigh. “You could have been nice like normal people and just said, no, of course I don’t.”

“Why would I lie to you?”

“Because that’s what nice people do.”

“Then why would I give you honesty when you wouldn’t in return?”

“Wait a minute,” Chanyeol said deciphering D.O.’s words. “Are you trying to say I’m not nice? I’m a very nice person.”

“Are you?”

“What makes you think I’m not?”

D.O.’s eyebrow raised and Chanyeol waved his hands, as if erasing the question.

“Okay, I know I made a bad impression at the beginning,” Chanyeol acknowledged. “But I didn’t trust you. No one would give me information about why you no longer worked for us, and that was suspicious. So, obviously, I wasn’t going to be nice to you. But I’ve been nice to you since then, right?”

D.O.’s eyebrows raised even further.

“I invited you to eat lunch with me that one time. That was nice, right?”

D.O.’s eyebrows returned to their normal state and he nodded and said, “That was nice.”

“Okay, so I’m nice.”

“One nice moment doesn’t make you nice.”

Chanyeol furrowed his brows and thought to himself about this for a moment. Was he really not a nice person? If he wasn’t, then he wouldn’t have been able to make friends or have good rapport with his professors in college or his boss at the job he had to leave behind.

People liked him. But did he have to be nice for people to like him? Now Chanyeol wondered.

He looked back at D.O. in thought, the man still staring at him, and Chanyeol looked away disturbed by how calm he was at all times. Had he been trained to be that way, or had he been born like that?

They arrived at the museum soon after, and as they walked the red carpet, Chanyeol could only focus on how over the top this all was. He glanced at D.O. to see his reaction to all of the hoopla, but the man was busy looking around and assessing the situation, then put his hand on Chanyeol’s lower back, walking close to him as he followed.

Chanyeol very much tried to not be distracted by that firm hand, applying just enough pressure to offer the security that D.O. was right behind him, and he instead tried to focus on making it up the carpet and to the main entrance where he gave his name to the man with the list.

“Enjoy your evening, Mr. Park,” the man said, opening the rope for him and his subadvisor to enter.

To say the affair was lavish was an understatement. Women moved about in long gowns and jewelry so expensive that they glimmered and shined more than the museum lights that highlighted the pieces on display. A violin quartet played music as servers walked around with floating trays, carrying flutes of champagne and decadent morsels.

Chanyeol grabbed two champagne glasses and handed one to D.O.

“I’m your security tonight too, remember?” D.O. said, not accepting the drink.

“It’s a glass of champagne,” Chanyeol said, nudging it into his hands. “If this affects your abilities to do your job, then we’re already done for.”

D.O. considered the glass, then took it, and Chanyeol toasted his against his companion’s.

“To a successful night.”

“To a successful night,” D.O. said, and he took a sip while Chanyeol drained his glass complete.

“I’m going to need another,” Chanyeol mentioned to another server, who took his glass and replaced it with a full one.

“Junmyeon said you like social events.”

“I like parties and bars and clubbing. I don’t like fancy, pretentious museum events.”

“So, you don’t like culture?”

“That’s not…” Chanyeol frowned, then reminded himself to not take D.O.’s blunt and honest observations personally. “I guess not.”

“Well it is a party, even if it’s in a museum,” D.O. pointed out. “Do you see the Commissioner General from your height? I see nothing. Except that woman that hasn’t stopped staring at you since we walked in.”

“What woman?” Chanyeol asked looking around and then following the direction of D.O.’s nod to find a beautiful young woman in a cornflower blue dress with a large teardrop diamond pendant hanging from her neck. Her long, brown hair fell over her right shoulder, and if it weren’t for her glances at him, she would otherwise look completely bored. “Oh, that woman.”

“Do you see the Commissioner General?” D.O. asked again, but Chanyeol already had begun walking toward the woman.

He was grateful that she had been pointed out to him, since he needed a distraction from his nerves about his mission for the evening, and maybe a distraction from staring the entire night at D.O. in his tuxedo and with those ridiculous heart-shaped lips.

He took another sip of his champagne and stood in front of her, then said, “You look as bored as I feel.”

“Impressive since you’ve just arrived,” she stated, pushing her hair behind her ear slightly and taking a sip of her champagne as well.

“How long have you been suffering through this?”

“Twenty-six minutes, and counting.”

“We’ll probably need something stronger than this then,” he said, lifting his champagne glass up.

“I’m already eyeing the open bar,” she said, looking toward where it had been set up and currently was being attended by two bartenders.

“I’m Park Chanyeol,” he finally introduced himself.

“Seo Ju-hyun,” she said, with a smile.

“A beautiful name for a beautiful woman,” he said, and D.O. coughed beside him.

“Sorry,” D.O. said, holding up his finger as he coughed a little bit more. “I think I choked on that bad pickup line.”

Chanyeol’s eyes widened and Ju-hyun chuckled, looking between D.O. and Chanyeol.

“You’re a funny one,” she said, the interest turning to D.O. as she smiled at him. “And what’s your name?”

“D.O.” He said, reaching his hand out and bowing in greeting.

“Nice to meet you, D.O.,” she said, shaking his hand and returning the bow.

“He’s my bodyguard,” Chanyeol said, wanting the attention back on him.

“He’s…” she paused and looked between them, “your bodyguard?”

“Yes,” Chanyeol confirmed.

“Him?”

“He’s scarier than he looks.”

“You’re three times his size.”

“Looks can be deceiving,” Chanyeol said, and he glanced at D.O. who seemed amused by this interaction.

“So, what is it that you do, Park Chanyeol, that requires you to have a bodyguard?” She asked him.

“It’s not as interesting as you’d like it to be,” he said, a bit aloof on the matter to avoid answering the question. “So, what brings you here tonight? Are you interested in art?”

“My mother is a trustee and a board member of the museum. She helped put on this event.”

“How exciting. And what is it that you do?”

“Nothing interesting to a man that needs a bodyguard, I’m sure.”

“Try me.”

“I’m studying to be a veterinarian.”

“That’s really interesting,” Chanyeol replied, genuinely surprised by the answer. “What made you decide on that?”

“It comes from my childhood when I was upset that my pet bird had died. I wanted to learn how to fix them. I don’t know why this childhood idea stuck,” she said, and then she turned her attention again to D.O. “Was it your childhood aspiration to be a bodyguard?”

“No,” D.O. said. “I wanted to be a hairdresser.”

“That’s even more interesting,” Ju-hyun said before Chanyeol could react, thinking the same thing. “And why was that?”

“It’s what my mother did, and I liked watching her do it. I thought I could follow in her footsteps.”

Chanyeol found himself a tad bit upset that he had shared that so freely with a woman he had just met, but never shared anything about his mother with him. He finished the rest of his champagne and handed the empty glass to D.O.

“Maybe you should go get us some real drinks,” he told him.

D.O. looked at him, another unreadable expression on his face, and he took the glass and offered to take Ju-hyun’s as well.

She thanked him and D.O. set off to the open bar, giving Chanyeol a chance to regroup his thoughts as he smiled at Ju-hyun.

“Sorry about him,” he said. “He’s still in training.”

“He’s very attractive,” she said.

Chanyeol snorted and shook his head with a smile. There was a part of him that very much thought he may have lost his touch once he had become a dad, but dealing with Sehun and now this was a level of humility he hadn’t been prepared for.

“I guess,” he said. “If you like them short and vague.”

She looked back at him and threaded her fingers around the long platinum chain of her necklace.

“You’re also attractive,” she told him. “You did catch my attention when you walked in.”

He felt instant relief that he still seemed to have some of his touch left, and he flashed her his smirk, and said, “And you caught mine. Did you come alone?”

“I came with my mother,” she said.

“Did you plan on leaving with your mother?”

“Aren’t you forward?”

“I don’t play games when I know what I want.”

“Hm, I don’t go home with strange men who have mysterious occupations.”

“Lucky for you, I don’t take strangers home.”

“Where do you take them?”

“I know a place.”

“A mysterious location for a mysterious man.”

“It’s not that mysterious. It’s a nice hotel that I can pull some strings at for accommodations that you’d be pleased by.”

“You guys didn’t say what you wanted,” D.O. said returning with two cocktail glasses and handing them each one. “So, I got you both a Sidecar.”

“My favorite,” Ju-hyun said, thanking him.

“Is it?” Chanyeol asked.

“It is now,” she said, taking a sip.

“Good,” D.O. said, “As for you,” he stated looking back at Chanyeol. “You have someone to speak with.”

Chanyeol noticed D.O. nudge his head in a certain direction, and he followed the nudge to see an older man with silver streaks in his black hair that very much resembled the man in all the pictures Junmyeon had shown him of what the Commissioner General looked like.

“If you’ll excuse me for a moment,” Chanyeol said to Ju-hyun, and he left her alone with D.O. as he took a big sip of his Sidecar for courage.

The man spoke with a couple of older gentlemen, appearing to be around his age as well.  Chanyeol had no idea how to interrupt or get this man alone, so he just walked up to the circle of men and hoped for the best.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Chanyeol said to the gentlemen and bowed to them, then addressed the Commissioner General, “I wanted to pass along greetings from my father in case I didn’t get the chance to later.”

The Commissioner General smiled at Chanyeol and put his hand on his shoulder, giving it a strong squeeze.

“Park Chanyeol,” the man said, his voice had a rasp and was deeper than Chanyeol had expected, “Look at how you have grown. If you’ll excuse me,” the Commissioner General said to the other gentlemen, and they bowed to him and made their leave. “How is your father?” He asked.

“Very well,” Chanyeol informed him, “He’ll be attending these things himself in no time.”

“So good to hear,” he said, giving his shoulder one last squeeze before removing his hand. “You grew to be quite tall. And a point of pride for your father in every respect. I hear you did your military service right after high school.”

“I did,” Chanyeol confirmed for him.

“Very honorable of you. Most men in your position choose easier ways out of their mandatory service. I’m sure you know.”

He did know. Many of the heads of the high families cut deals with government officials and businesses to have their sons avoid having to serve if possible. Chanyeol and Jongdae had both decided that they wouldn’t take the easy way out, but while Chanyeol had stayed true to his word, Jongdae had chosen to go straight to school instead.

“Well I’m not most men,” Chanyeol said.

“No, you certainly aren’t,” the Commissioner General acknowledged. “Your father did a wonderful job raising you to be a good man. You take your responsibilities very seriously. Raising your child by yourself takes a level of maturity most men your age haven’t found yet, if they ever do.”

“My son means everything to me,” Chanyeol stated, using that as his in. “And I would do anything to protect him. You probably know why I’m here tonight.”

“I have a feeling I do,” he stated. “Unfortunately, I’m not sure I can be of much help to you.”

“You’re in charge of the person responsible for my family’s current issues.”

“I’m in charge of the person who’s in charge of the person who’s in charge of the person who runs the department of the person responsible for your family’s current issues. I’m afraid what you’re looking for requires you to take a more direct path.”

“But you do know an operation is taking place against us?”

“I’ve seen a memo or two come across my desk. However, the security of our country takes precedence on my agendas. You understand, of course.”

“What I understand is that you’ve known my father for a long time, and a man in your position remains friends with a man in my father’s position for very specific reasons. Are you sure there are no self-interests you’re interested in protecting?”

The Commissioner General chuckled, and waved off a server with a floating tray.

“You speak much like your father,” he said, a fond smile on his face, and Chanyeol wondered if he should find it patronizing. “It’s as if you were his apprentice, though I know you aren’t. You showed no interest, according to him. Yet, here you are.”

“I’m only here because one of your men tried to take him out. I would very much rather be doing other things. You have investments in our company. We take very good care of our investors. I don’t think it’s too much to ask the same in return.”

“The flipside of that, of course, is that an investor can withdraw their investments if they feel the company is no longer worth investing in.”

“Is that what you think about our company?”

“Of course not,” he said, and Chanyeol sensed a moment of hesitation in the older man’s voice.

“We’re in the midst of building what will be the premier hotel in the city once it’s completed next year. It doesn’t even have windows in place yet, but we already have a waitlist to stay in it,” Chanyeol let him know. “Sure, you could take your money out of it now and leave us to be. But would you do that and miss out on the returns that are going to start pouring in before we even open our doors?”

“Quite the businessman,” the General Commissioner said with a smile.

“It’s not business. It’s common sense. You know my father is a visionary. You know there’s a reason why he wins awards and sets the standard for hospitality in our country. If I was an investor, I would make sure to protect those assets at all costs.”

“You’re right to admire your father,” the older man said, “And he’s right to entrust this duty to you in his absence. You represent him well. In order for me stop the operation that is in place, I would need to justify it to my subordinates. People assume that when you’re in power that you can make an executive decision without consequences. Of course, you would know, being in the position that you are now, that that is not the case. I cannot order an operation to be terminated without just cause. To do so would cause suspicion and lack of trust through my ranks.”

“I’ve actually discovered in my short time as the interim head of my family that my executive decisions, even when unpopular, have only strengthened the trust of my ranks. A leader should not be afraid to lead, but of course, you would know that, being in the position that you are now.”

“Hm,” the man said, losing the warm smile he had held for him. “It’s very different running a high family than it is to run a country’s police force.”

“I’m sure you have a lot more paperwork than I do.”

The man laughed at the comment and then motioned toward a set of doors that had opened.

“It appears the gala is about to begin. I do hope you have a good time. It was great seeing you, Park Chanyeol. Please give my warmest regards to your father.”

He didn’t give Chanyeol a chance to balk at his ending their conversation, and Chanyeol had no choice but to bow to the older man and then stand there, sure that he would hear an earful later from Junmyeon and Jongin about failing this mission of theirs.

“So how’d that go?” D.O. asked him, appearing at his side.

“Not well,” Chanyeol said, running his hand through his impeccable hair and not caring if he had ruined it by the act. As far as he was concerned, he had done what he could.

“Do you know where you’re seated?” Ju-hyun said walking over to them as well.

“I don’t think we’re staying,” Chanyeol told her.

“Then where are we going?” She asked, smirking with her arms crossed.

Chanyeol smirked back, and he texted their driver to pull up and collect them.

***

It wasn’t that Chanyeol was trying to avoid going back to the house to give everyone the bad news, but he had needed to de-stress after all the tension of the last two days leading up to this event.

That’s what he told D.O. as they sat at the bar of his favorite hotel and ordered soju for the three of them.

“You don’t need to make excuses for feeling disappointed and choosing to deal with it in this way,” D.O. said, taking his shot, apparently not having any reservations about his bodyguard duties now.

“I’m not disappointed. I’m more annoyed,” Chanyeol said, and a part of him also didn’t want D.O. to think that he had failed once again at doing what he was supposed to. He wasn’t sure why D.O.’s opinion mattered to him so much.

“I saw you speaking to the General Commissioner,” Ju-hyun interjected. “Is that the reason you came to the event?”

“Yeah, I needed to ask him for a favor,” Chanyeol let her know. “But it seems he’s not in the business of granting those.”

“Did your mother invite him personally to the event tonight?” D.O. asked her. “Or did he offer a donation to attend?”

“She invited him personally,” Ju-hyun answered. “They’ve known each other for a long time. Mostly through social circles.”

“How well do you know him?” D.O. continued to ask, and Chanyeol looked between him and Ju-hyun, realizing he was playing at something.

“He’s come to the house several times, but no more than that. For social events. He and my father knew each other well before my father passed.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” D.O. said.

“I was young,” she waved off.  “What favor do you need from him?”

“We can’t discuss that,” Chanyeol said.

“Is it about the Choi incident?”

Chanyeol had no idea what she meant by that, but D.O. appeared to, his eyes widening at the mention.

“How do you know about that?” D.O. asked her.

“I hear things.”

“What exactly did you hear?”

“That the young Choi injured two people after a fight at a casino they were all illegally at. He was arrested, but the charges were all dropped and he was released without a single word.”

“The Commissioner General got him out?” D.O. asked.

“Of course he did. The perks of dating the Commissioner General’s daughter, I suppose.”

Chanyeol and D.O. exchanged a look, and Chanyeol wanted to show his gratitude to D.O. right then and there for discovering this information.

“How did you know that’s what we wished to discuss with him?” Chanyeol asked her, playing along.

“A mysterious job with a bodyguard, and then I watched how the Commissioner General treated you. People in charge of high families get treated very differently than the rest of us by other people in charge. I imagine it’s because you’re all making them rich.”

“I suppose your mother would know something about that,” Chanyeol said.

“Probably,” she shrugged. “So, Park family I’m guessing.”

“Your guess is correct.”

“My mother knows your father too. She was really upset when she heard what had happened to him.”

“You can assure your mother he’s doing much better now,” he told her.

“I’ll let her know. So, am I ever going to see these accommodations you claim I’ll like?”

Chanyeol grinned and nodded, knowing he probably looked a bit smug to D.O. at the moment. But he really did think she was beautiful, and maybe he didn’t need a distraction from his task anymore, but he could still use the distraction from the man that sat beside him, especially now that he had saved this mission for Chanyeol, which somehow made him look even more fitting of the tux he wore.

“I can show it to you right now,” Chanyeol stated.

“Let’s go,” she said, leaning away from the bar.

“I’ll stay down here,” D.O. said.

“You’re my bodyguard,” Chanyeol reminded him. “You’re supposed to stay with me at all times.”

“This is your hotel,” D.O. reminded him back. “I’m sure you’re fine.”

Chanyeol looked at Ju-hyun and asked if she could give them a moment. She walked toward the entrance of the bar area to wait, and Chanyeol tried to get a read on D.O., who poured himself another shot and looked at him waiting for him to speak.

“How did you know about the Choi incident?” Chanyeol asked him.

“I didn’t,” D.O. answered.

“But you…”

“I acted like I knew so I could see what she knew. I’ve never even heard of it.”

“That’s… impressive,” Chanyeol complimented him.

“Before you get too caught up in your amusement for the night. You should maybe make a phone call to the Commissioner General.”

“Why?”

“To let him know that you’ll be breaking the Park alliance with the Choi family if he doesn’t thwart the plan.”

Chanyeol followed D.O.’s line of thought and nodded as he began to understand.

“If the Choi family is in the direct line of fire and lose our alliance, their defenses go down considerably,” Chanyeol said as he worked it out in his mind.

“Leaving the younger Choi vulnerable. Leaving those he cares about even more vulnerable.”

“I’m on it. Thank you.”

“Just doing my job. As your subadvisor.”

“Right,” Chanyeol said, but he couldn’t help the smile on his face because he was so impressed by how D.O. had helped him and, this time, without making him feel as if he was too dumb to do it himself.

***

Later that morning, before the sun began to rise, Chanyeol noticed that D.O. stayed quiet on their ride back to the Park estate. He supposed he was tired, or maybe a bit drunk, having noticed the many bottles the man had gone through when he had come back downstairs to find him.

“Thank you again,” Chanyeol said to him. “For everything tonight. I knew it was a good idea to bring you.”

“Just doing my job,” D.O. said, and he leaned his head against the window of the car, almost as if purposely moving further away from where Chanyeol sat beside him.

“When we report back to Junmyeon and Jongin, can we keep out the pleasure parts of the night and just keep it to business? I don’t want them thinking I didn’t take tonight seriously.”

“If that’s your order, then I will follow it.”

Chanyeol’s eyebrows furrowed and he stared at D.O. wondering why he felt as if he was getting the cold shoulder all of a sudden.

“You normally have a comeback for my orders,” Chanyeol pointed out.

D.O. said nothing and Chanyeol felt confused, so instead he leaned his head against his window as well and tried to gather his thoughts together about what had happened tonight and what he needed to do next.

***

“I knew you’d pull it off,” Junmyeon said with a smile the next morning, later than usual as Chanyeol had needed to sleep in considerably to recover from the exhaustion he had been feeling the past few days.

“I couldn’t have done it without D.O.’s help,” he said modestly, and D.O., who sat in a chair to the side, did not react.

“I can’t believe the young Choi is dating his daughter,” Jongin said, shaking his head. “He’s not being very public about it.”

“Probably to protect her,” Junmyeon pointed out. “Or the situation. A son of a high family, one next in line at that, dating the Commissioner General’s daughter has a lot of implications. For both sides.”

“Like us using it against the Commissioner General to get what we want,” Chanyeol pointed out, giving a smile to D.O. who turned his attention to Junmyeon without reacting.

Now, Chanyeol knew for a fact that he was getting the cold shoulder.

“So, what exactly did he say he was going to do for us?” Jongin asked.

“He’s going to try and give orders to cancel the operation,” Chanyeol told him.

“I don’t like that the word ‘try’ is in there,” Jongin said.

“We’ll take ‘try’ for now,” Junmyeon said. “It means we still have to be vigilant, but let’s give him this chance to get something done. We’ve already made it clear what we plan to do if he doesn’t.”

“Alright, well I have a meeting with Minseok to get to,” Jongin said getting up. “Nice work,” he said to his cousin again with a smile, and then he left.

Chanyeol appreciated the sentiment from Jongin knowing how worried he had been the day before. As much as he tried not to care, the idea of letting his cousin and Junmyeon down made Chanyeol upset. He imagined it was because they worked so hard and were the main ones believing in him. 

“Can I be dismissed now?” D.O. asked, breaking Chanyeol away from his thoughts.

“Oh,” Chanyeol said, not quite wanting him to go. “Actually, why don’t we go for a walk?”

“You don’t have any meetings scheduled until later this afternoon,” Junmyeon confirmed for him.

D.O. stood up and made his way to the door, not waiting for Chanyeol as he opened it and stepped outside.

“Did you two have a fight or something?” Junmyeon asked Chanyeol intrigued.

“Not that I remember,” Chanyeol said, as he shrugged his shoulders to Junmyeon, “I have no idea why he’s acting like this.”

Junmyeon looked baffled by that explanation and Chanyeol left him in the office alone as he caught up with D.O. who was already down the hall.

“Hey,” Chanyeol said catching up to him. “Did I do something wrong?”

“No, why?” D.O. asked, power walking toward the door that led to the side of the house and toward the path of the bungalows.

“You’re acting like I did something wrong.”

“You said you wanted to walk.”

“Hey,” Chanyeol said, grabbing D.O.’s arm to stop him, and in return he got a hard punch to the arm as D.O. pulled his arm away.

“Don’t ever grab me again,” D.O. said.

Chanyeol rubbed his arm with a pained look because that had really hurt. He wondered if learning to throw lethal punches had also been part of D.O.’s training.

“I was just trying to get you to stop. What is going on? We were fine last night and then I come back down and you’re acting weird.”

“I have a lot on my mind.”

“Like what?”

“Nothing that concerns you.”

“Okay, should I call Ju-hyun and tell her to come over so you can tell her instead?”

D.O.’s eyebrow raised and was accompanied by his trademark glare.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” D.O. asked.

“I’m just saying. I ask you about your mother and you close up and tell me you don’t trust me enough. You meet her for two seconds and talk about your mother as if you’ve known her forever and don’t mind sharing information with her.”

“That’s not as bad as meeting her for two seconds and taking her to bed,” D.O. threw back.

Chanyeol stood still for a moment, not sure why the comment had him feeling off balance.

“You…” Chanyeol tried, then stared at him unsure and confused. “If you had a problem with me hooking up with her, you could have said something.”

“Jongin was right,” D.O. said. “You were supposed to be there for business and not pleasure.”

“If it hadn’t been for her, we wouldn’t have found our leverage to use against the Commissioner General.”

“You found out before you took her to bed.”

“She expected it to happen. I wasn’t going to let her down after she had helped us out.”

“Let her down? Could you think any more highly of yourself?”

“Hey, you had your chance. I left you alone with her long enough for you to make a move instead if you were interested.”

“I wasn’t interested.”

“Then I don’t understand the problem here.”

“There is no problem here.”

“Then why are you treating me like there’s a problem?”

D.O. looked at him for a moment, his glare softening, and then he shook his head.

“I’m going home,” D.O. said. “If you need anything, call me.”

“You’re going home?” Chanyeol asked, and he followed D.O. outside. “Wait, but…”

“I’m going home,” D.O. stated again turning one more time to look at him, and Chanyeol noticed the look of confusion that had crossed D.O.’s face.

Chanyeol could not understand what had happened between last night and now, but he knew that he didn’t like how this felt at all.

***

At dinner that night, Chanyeol’s mind was lost as everyone around him spoke with excitement since his father had joined them in the dining room for the first time since he had been injured.

He tried to join in with the conversations and laughs, especially when Taemin had insisted on sitting right beside his grandfather to help him eat his food. The little boy pretended the spoon was an airplane and everyone laughed in unison.

Chanyeol did not have laughter to give, he only had a headache and a strong desire to go to bed early.

“Are you okay?” Junmyeon asked him, leaning in so only he could hear the question.

“I’m fine,” Chanyeol lied, and he tried to focus on eating the fish in front of him.

“Your father looks great,” Junmyeon said. “I think you’ll be getting your wish a bit sooner than we all thought.”

“That would be nice,” he said, stabbing at his fish several times.

It would be more than nice, he thought to himself. If he could get out of there soon, then he wouldn’t have to worry about anything D.O. had said to him or what any of it had meant. He still had no idea what he did wrong, if anything.

“What’s wrong with him?” Chanyeol heard Jongin ask, and he looked at his cousin who had asked the question to Junmyeon.

“He’s fine, he says,” Junmyeon said.

“Okay, but what’s wrong with him?”

“Nothing,” Chanyeol said, giving him a look to drop it.

“Daddy!” Taemin yelled out from across the table, and Chanyeol turned his attention to his son, “Can I go sleep with grandpa tonight?”

The entire dining room seemed to coo at this request, and Chanyeol’s heart sunk a little deeper into whatever abyss it currently sat in. He didn’t know how to reply to this request, considering everyone wanted a “yes,” but his answer was instinctively “no.”

“I think grandpa needs to get a little bit stronger before he can do sleepovers.”

“But I help him get stronger,” he said, and Chanyeol could sense that Taemin was not going to let this one go. The last thing he needed was for his kid to throw a temper tantrum and ruin the evening for everyone else.

“But the doctor won’t allow it,” his mother said, and Chanyeol could tell from his father’s reaction to her that she had made that rule up herself. “But when the doctor says it’s okay, then I’m sure your dad will let you, alright?”

Chanyeol gave her a grateful look.

“Daddy, you let me when the doctor let me?” Taemin asked him.

“We’ll talk it about then,” he said, feeling his headache enhance to an unbearable proportion.

“No, now,” Taemin said, the whine coming through.

Chanyeol pressed his fingers to his forehead and then pushed his chair back to stand up.

“I can’t do this tonight,” he said to no one in particular.

He left the dining room, heading straight to his own room and to his bathroom to take some ibuprofen and hope his headache went away.

When he came out of his bathroom, he found Junmyeon pacing and Jongin sitting at his desk chair, eating a piece of bread he had brought with him.

“I’m just going to turn in early,” he told them, taking his shirt off as he walked to his closet to find a T-shirt for sleeping instead.

“Chanyeol,” Junmyeon said, “Talk to us. What is going on? We can’t help if you don’t tell us.”

“There is nothing going on,” he answered, changing out of his pants as well.

“Does this have to do with you and D.O. fighting?” Jongin asked.

“We’re not fighting,” Chanyeol said. “And no. I don’t care about that.”

“Did things not go well for the two of you last night?” Jongin pressed on.

“Stop talking about him,” Chanyeol snapped. He closed his closet door and walked to his bed. “I’m going to bed. Both of you can leave.”

“No,” Junmyeon shook his head, “We’re not leaving until we get answers. What exactly happened between the two of you last night?”

“Nothing happened. I was on a mission, remember? It was business.”

“It didn’t seem like business,” Jongin remarked. “It seemed like a date. Did he not put out?”

“It wasn’t a fucking date,” Chanyeol snapped again. “I told you that yesterday. I’m not into him.”

“Stop lying to yourself,” Junmyeon said. “I saw how you looked at him when you saw him in that tux last night.”

“He wears tuxes well, so what? I can appreciate when someone wears clothes well.”

His headache would not have a chance of getting better if this interrogation didn’t end, and Chanyeol went under his covers and put a pillow over his head, hoping they’d get the hint.

“I just don’t get why you won’t admit that you have a thing for him,” Jongin said. “Look at how you’re acting because of him.”

Chanyeol began to feel very irate, and he took the pillow off from over his head and sat up to glare at his cousin.

“I’m not acting this way because of him. He doesn’t mean anything to me. If he did, I would have hooked up with him last night instead of someone else. So, let it go already.”

“You hooked up with someone last night?” Junmyeon asked, eyes suddenly narrowed.

“Shit,” Chanyeol said to himself, and now the headache would most definitely be permanent. He rubbed his head.

“You better start talking,” Jongin said. “Who did you hook up with?”

“No one,” Chanyeol said, squeezing his eyes tight to hope it helped the pressure behind his eyes.

“Chanyeol,” Junmyeon said, and his tone had a warning attached to it that Chanyeol could not ignore.

“Her name is Seo Ju-hyun, and she’s the one that told us about the connection between the Choi family and the Commissioner General’s daughter.”

“Well that worked out,” Jongin said, and it seemed the information didn’t bother him so much anymore.

“We’ll determine that after we run a background check,” Junmyeon said, and it was clear that the information still bothered him very much. “I’ve told you how dangerous it is to hook up with random people.”

“I’m impressed you managed that on your own,” Jongin said. “Without my help. I remember not too long ago having to force you to talk to someone at a club. It’s like you’re slowly returning to who you used to be.”

“Which you can’t be right now,” Junmyeon reminded them. “It’s too dangerous. Especially with everything happening. Hopefully she checks out, but don’t contact her again until we find out what we can about her.”

“I don’t think it was the kind of thing where I’ll be contacting her again,” Chanyeol pointed out.

“That’s too bad,” Jongin said. “It sounds like she’s useful to our cause with whatever knowledge she possesses. Hey, by any chance, were you already fighting with D.O. before you hooked up with her, or did that start after?”

“We’re not fighting,” Chanyeol said again, but his guard was a bit down now so he continued, “He was fine the whole time until after I came back down from hooking up with her. He was in the bar with like three bottles of soju in front of him, so maybe he was just really drunk?”

“Oh,” Jongin said.

“Oh,” Junmyeon said.

Then Chanyeol watched them as they looked at each other, and both widened their eyes and said, “Oh,” at the same time.

“Oh what? What are we oh’ing about?” Chanyeol asked.

“Um,” Junmyeon said, taking a deep breath and sitting on Chanyeol’s bed, turning to face him a bit. “I think you and D.O. need to have a serious conversation.”

“About what?” Chanyeol asked.

“Or,” Jongin said, “You need to let him go and never see him again.”

“What?” Chanyeol asked, not liking that idea at all. “Why?”

“This is affecting you,” Jongin said, “And things are too crazy right now for you to be dealing with this.”

“Dealing with what?” Chanyeol asked.

“Your feelings for D.O.,” Junmyeon said.

“My feelings for…” Chanyeol could not believe he was hearing any of this. “I don’t have feelings for him. He’s our assassin. I don’t even know anything about him because he refuses to tell me anything about himself, even though he had no problem telling Ju-hyun about how he wanted to be a hairdresser because his mother was a hairdresser, yet for some reason, he never cared to tell me anything about hair, although he once fixed my hair, which was out of the blue and completely unexpected, and I still don’t know why he did that.”

“This is really bad,” Jongin said.

“Okay, you definitely need to have a serious conversation with him,” Junmyeon said. “I don’t care if it’s to work out your feelings toward him or to terminate his duties and let him go on his merry way, but you have to do it.”

“I don’t think you understand what I’m saying here,” Chanyeol said. “I don’t have feelings for him, and even if I did have feelings for him, I can’t have feelings for him, because I can’t have feelings for anyone.”

“Then you’re going to have to cut him loose,” Junmyeon said. “You have no choice.”

“But he’s useful to our operation,” Chanyeol countered.

“Not if he has you acting like this,” Junmyeon pointed out. “Family first, remember? We need you focused on protecting the family from whatever these cops have planned next. D.O. is a distraction for you, and if you’re not going to work it out with him, then you have to let him go.”

“I agree with Junmyeon,” Jongin said, but Chanyeol felt there was something more that Jongin wanted to say, however he added nothing to his statement.

“I would like to go to bed now,” Chanyeol said. “You can let Anya know that I’m already sleeping so she’ll have to put Taemin to bed tonight if I don’t wake up when they come in.”

“I’ll let her know,” Junmyeon said, getting up from the bed.

They turned the light off for him as they left, and for the first time that day, he found himself in complete silence, which helped soothe a bit of the pain in his head.

Chanyeol hated that the words that had been said to him just then were swirling around his mind, painting a picture that could make sense if he allowed it to fully form. D.O. had been fine before he hooked up with Ju-hyun. But then he had found him drunk. Maybe he was just hungover the next day and that’s why he had acted that way, or maybe he was upset at himself for getting drunk on the job, or maybe he was upset that Chanyeol had hooked up with Ju-hyun, but he hadn’t. Then again, D.O. had said he wasn’t interested in her, but he could have been lying to make it seem as if that’s why he wasn’t upset.

He didn’t want to care this deeply about this situation, but his advisor had given him a bit of an ultimatum. The idea of letting D.O. go really bothered Chanyeol. He did like his company and his advice, and he liked staring at his heart-shaped lips and big owl eyes. And now he knew that he had wanted to be a hairdresser like his mother, and suddenly all he could think about was that day in the gun range when D.O. had fixed Chanyeol’s hair, and now Chanyeol wished that D.O. was in his bed with him, running his fingers through his hair and fixing it or making it messy, and now Chanyeol realized that Junmyeon and Jongin were right, and Chanyeol wanted to scream and cry.

He couldn’t do this. He couldn’t fall for someone. Not again. He had made that mistake once, and there was no way he’d allow himself to go through that again. There was no point to it. He couldn’t. Why did this have to happen to him? Why did D.O. have to walk into his life and turn it upside down at exactly the wrong time?

He’d have to let him go. 

That idea made his chest hurt. 

He didn’t want to let him go.


	5. (Waxing Gibbous)

Jongdae had a dilemma on his hands. In order to have complete control over Mina’s accounts, he needed to present her death certificate to the banks. His first problem was trying to get the death certificate in his possession, not quite sure where his parents kept it. The second problem was trying to get out of the house so he could visit the banks in the first place.

“You’re not doing a good job of pretending you’re reading,” Yixing let him know, as they sat in the sitting room, the rain falling gently against the large window that Jongdae sat near as he attempted to read a book.

“I was reading,” Jongdae said, “And then I started thinking of other things.”

Yixing was working on a crossword puzzle, sitting comfortably in an armchair that was twice his size.

“What things did you start thinking about?” Yixing asked.

“How to get out of this house so I can go to the bank and handle my sister’s accounts.”

Yixing sighed and placed the crossword book on his lap, taking a look at Jongdae.

“This sucks,” Yixing said.

“Yeah,” Jongdae agreed.

“I’m going stir crazy being trapped in here, so I can only imagine how you feel, being trapped and then being watched constantly on top of that.”

“I just keep telling myself it’s temporary.”

“It is,” Yixing assured him. “We got a briefing earlier today about how Chanyeol spoke to the Commissioner General at some big event. Whatever the conversation entailed, it appears that the Commissioner General is going to try and stop the operation.”

Jongdae felt many emotions, some he hadn’t expected, to this news.

“Chanyeol spoke to the Commissioner General? He just went up to him and spoke to him? At some event,” Jongdae tried to ask and clarify at the same time, more for himself.

“Yes,” Yixing said.

“Wow,” Jongdae said, and he looked at the window as the raindrops slid down, creating tiny paths for the other raindrops to follow.

“You’re impressed?”

“It just seems like a very head of the family job. Like a head with a lot of experience.”

“For better or for worse, it turns out Chanyeol has a knack for running his family. He’s doing really well.”

“Of course he is,” Jongdae said, and he sighed and looked back down at his book. “I need to find that confidence in myself. The confidence to walk up to someone like the Commissioner General and ask him for his cooperation. I have no experience in doing that. I wouldn’t even know how to do something like that.”

“I’m sure when presented with the situation, you’d know what to do.”

“The past year that I’ve been training to take over this family, I never once had a successful meeting with a single head of the family. They were all disasters, and I was dismissed as if they were done entertaining me and told to go get my father so that the real grownups could talk.”

“You were thrust into a very difficult situation you weren’t prepared for. Now you’re going to spend more time preparing. It’ll be different.”

“It’ll be harder. We’re not even considered a high family anymore. Now they’ll have even less respect for me. And they didn’t have respect for me in the first place.”

“It doesn’t take much to garner respect,” Yixing told him. “If you make the right move at the right time, you’ll get it.”

That was comforting to hear, but knowing the right move to make was hard enough, doing it at the right time was near impossible.

“Have you heard from Baekhyun on the account?” Yixing asked him.

“Last I spoke to him, he was still working on it. I might have given him a task he can’t do.”

“I’m sure he’s not used to that.”

“He did seem a bit frustrated by it,” Jongdae said, and a small twitch of amusement played at his lips. “I know this is dumb, but I miss him.”

“It’s not dumb,” Yixing said with a soft smile. “He was new energy at a time when you really needed it. As much as I don’t trust him, I do like that he sparked a little bit of life in you. I suppose I miss him too for that reason.”

“When I become head of this family, I’m bringing him on board.”

“Not sure you’ll be able to,” Yixing cautioned. “He couldn’t confirm or deny attachment to the Academy, which means he’s most likely attached to the Academy in some way. I don’t think they’d be okay with one of their people being part of a high family.”

“Then maybe we keep him off the radar, like we do our assassin,” Jongdae said.

“I suppose we can assess the possibility when the time comes.”

Jongdae placed the bookmark back in place and closed his book, looking at Yixing for a moment as he played out the thoughts on his mind.

“I need to find Mina’s death certificate,” he stated.

“You’re probably better off trying to get a copy yourself,” Yixing told him. “You’re her brother. You can legally obtain a copy for your own records.”

“Really?”

“Yep. I did some research on it for you.”

“Does it require me to leave the house?”

“Unfortunately, yes,” Yixing confirmed. “You’ll have to get it from the hospital they took her to. And bring ID.”

“Okay,” Jongdae said, and he stood up, placing the book on the table beside his chair. “Where’s my father?”

“In his office. Why?”

“I’m going to talk to him about letting me take a field trip.”

Yixing’s expression showed that he didn’t think this would be a successful endeavor, but he stood up and put his crossword puzzles down on the table beside Jongdae’s book and told him, “Let’s go.”

***

His father sat speaking with his advisor, and Jongdae apologized for the interruption as he walked in and bowed in respect to his father, Yixing and his two bodyguards doing the same.

“It’s fine,” his father said.

Jongdae thought his father still looked concerned, worried, and too tired to be sitting in his office discussing business matters that he felt he had little control over.

“So, I need to run some errands,” Jongdae began, and his father shook his head before he could continue.

“You are not allowed to leave this house,” his father said.

“Right, I know that, but I have two bodyguards. Two. Thanks to you. And I think two bodyguards make up for my inability to carry.”

“It’s not up to me,” his father said.

Jongdae furrowed his brows.

“Who’s it up to then?”

“These are Park family orders.”

Jongdae paused for a moment, letting all the initial thoughts he had make their way through his mind, and then he took a breath and let it out.

“Okay,” he then said. “So, I’m going to run some errands, and I’m taking my two bodyguards with me.”

“You can’t...” his father said, and Jongdae cut him off.

“If Chanyeol has an issue with it, he can come talk to me about it,” Jongdae said. “I’ll try and be back in two hours, but if for any reason we’re delayed, we’ll communicate that and give you a new ETA.”

“The guards are instructed to not let you off the property,” his father said.

“Can you give them the order to let me pass or does that have to come from the Park’s as well?”

“They’re under Park orders.”

“So, you’re telling me that you have no control over your own house and your own staff?”

His father turned away, and Jongdae hadn’t intended to make the older man feel ashamed.

“I’m sorry,” Jongdae apologized. “I didn’t mean it in that way.”

“Why shouldn’t you?” His father said, looking back at him. “I have no control over my own family anymore. Why bother hiding it? If it were up to me, I still wouldn’t want you to go, because I’m worried about your safety, but I would let you go. This isn’t up to me.”

“You’re worried about my safety?” Jongdae asked, still unsure of this new turn his father had taken. Somehow, his father had turned into a beaten down shell of a man, and Jongdae wasn’t sure when the cruel version of his father from the past year would show himself again.

“I’ve always been worried about your safety,” the older man said, looking at him with a hint of regret.

“Sure,” Jongdae said, not too keen to believe it at the moment. “That’s why you threw me to the wolves and made sure to berate me in front of them as if they hadn’t humiliated me enough on their own.”

“I was wrong in how I treated you this past year,” his father admitted, and Jongdae had not been prepared to hear that. He didn’t know what to do with the feelings that welled up in him, so he pushed them down and shook his head, attempting to return to his current dilemma.

“How do I get past these guards?”

“You can try contacting the Park’s and asking their permission.”

He shook his head and put his hands on his hips as he thought about this.

“I’m not asking the Park’s for permission to leave my own home,” he stated. “What if I fake a medical emergency?”

“What do you mean?” His father asked.

“Call the guards and tell them that I’m not feeling well and that the bodyguards are taking me to the hospital.”

His father looked surprised by this idea and then nodded, picking up the phone.

“I’m coming with you,” Yixing said.

“No, you can’t,” Jongdae said. “I can’t do what I have to do if I’m worried about your safety.”

“I can’t sit here and keep myself occupied when I’ll be worried about yours,” Yixing countered. “Hide me in the trunk. They won’t think to check under the circumstances.”

“I’m not hiding you in the trunk,” Jongdae said, almost considering laughing at the suggestion.

“Just do it,” Yixing said. “I need to get out of this house too. I miss my favorite noodles. We should pick up lunch on the way back.”

His father hung up the phone.

“I bought you a three-hour window,” his father told him. “Under orders, they have to report this to the Park’s, but they’ll allow you through. If you’re not back in three hours, they will alert the Park’s.”

“Thank you,” Jongdae said, almost jumping up and down in excitement, “We’ll bring you back noodles.”

“Text us your favorite kind,” Yixing told him as he ran out of the office with Jongdae, the two bodyguards right on their tails.

***

It was strange for Jongdae to sit in the waiting room of the hospital that Mina had been taken to. It was a different waiting room, this one for the records office, but it still brought back painful memories of the night.

They had been hanging out in their off-campus apartment, the two drinking too much soju and laughing about every small thing because they were in a carefree mood. Yoona had called him to say she was back at her place after having gone to dinner with her parents and that he should come over. He had just put his sneakers on to leave when he had gotten the phone call from his father.

His father didn’t tend to call him so late, but he hadn’t thought anything of it, picking up with a cheerful hello. Only it hadn’t been his father on the other line. It had been his father’s advisor.

“Your parents are on their way to the hospital,” he said. “There’s been an incident.”

Jongdae’s heart had stopped, and the look on his face must have shown it because Yixing had been quick to come to his side in concern.

“Are they okay?” Jongdae had asked.

“It’s not them,” the advisor said. “It’s your sister.”

He had almost lost his breath then, and tried to remember the name of the hospital and information that the advisor had given him.

Knowing he was in no condition to drive, Yixing had taken him to the hospital, and Jongdae remembered seeing his parents in the emergency waiting room, running up to them and being cradled by his mother whose tears were uncontrollable.

“What’s going on?” He asked. “Where’s Mina?”

His mother couldn’t answer him, his father had no words, and it was his father’s advisor that shook his head and said, “There was nothing they could do.”

He learned in the moments after that she had been brought to the hospital, dead on arrival. And even then, he refused to believe it. Mina had always been invincible in his mind. She’d always been there for him, and he knew she would always be there. So, whatever this cruel joke was, it certainly wasn’t real.

Only one of the family members was required to identify the body, but they all went, Jongdae was sure it was because none of them believed it to be true, so they all wanted the confirmation that it had been a case of mistaken identity and that Mina was fine, probably at a club with friends.

She didn’t look dead when Jongdae laid eyes on her. They kept the part where the bullets had hit covered, and except for the small trail of blood that had come from her lips, she looked as if she was merely sleeping.

Jongdae had told her to wake up, and his mother let out a wail, and then Jongdae yelled at her to wake up, and the next thing he remembered was his father’s bodyguard pulling him out of the room and holding him until he broke down and cried in his arms.

“You okay?” Yixing asked him, placing his hand on his leg to bring him back to reality.

Jongdae blinked away the memories, taking a deep breath and letting it out then patting Yixing’s hand on his leg.

“I’m okay,” he told him. “Just don’t have great memories of the last time I was in this hospital.”

“Hopefully this doesn’t take long,” Yixing told him.

It mercifully didn’t, and Jongdae took a look at the death certificate, feeling those initial emotions again at seeing his sister’s name on the document. He hated being so blatantly reminded of the reality of her death.

“Noodle shop?” The bodyguard that had taken on the driving duties asked, and Jongdae shook his head and gave him the directions to the first bank they’d be visiting.

Once they had begun driving to their destination, Jongdae took the moment to address both of the bodyguards.

“Are you guys planning on reporting everything we’re doing to my father?”

“Not unless he asks,” the bodyguard in the front passenger seat replied. “We only ever have to report if you’re doing something to hurt yourself or not handling things well and may need help.”

“So, he might ask then,” Jongdae interpreted. “If he does, can you just let him know we went to get food and that’s it? Don’t tell him about the other stuff we’re doing. Please?”

The two bodyguards exchanged looks, and then the passenger bodyguard said, “Your former bodyguard warned us about you. He got demoted because of everything that happened. Now he has perimeter duty.”

Jongdae felt a small constriction in his chest, hating the reminder of what he had done and how it had ruined things for every single person involved. He made a mental note to apologize to his former bodyguard when they returned.

“Okay, that’s fair,” Jongdae said with a sigh.  He’d just have to hope his father didn’t ask.

They arrived at the bank and Jongdae was quickly attended to by one of the tellers, to whom he explained the situation. He found it easy to gain full control of the account, at both the first bank he went to and the second. However, when they arrived at the third bank, the teller alerted the manager who came out to greet him.

“Mr. Kim,” the man said with a bow and a handshake, “I’ll be more than happy to assist you today. If you don’t mind, we can speak in my office.”

Jongdae wasn’t sure why the protocol at this bank was different, but he looked toward the man’s office.

“Would the door have to be closed?” He asked.

“Well, yes, for your privacy.”

“Right,” Jongdae nodded. “My advisor will come with me then,” he said, looking at the bodyguards, and his bodyguard who hadn’t been driving shook his head.

“It has to be one of us,” he told him, and Jongdae knew it was because it had to be someone that carried.

“Okay, he’s coming in with us,” Jongdae relented.

“If he has your permission that’s fine,” the manager said with a smile, and Jongdae followed him into the office, his bodyguard with him.

“I just did this at two previous banks and didn’t have to speak to a manager,” Jongdae let him know as he took a seat across from the man at his desk. “Is there a problem?”

“No problem at all,” the man assured him. “I’m not sure what instructions the other account holder left at the other banks. I only know what instructions were left with us. We make sure to comply with our client’s wishes, even if they are sadly no longer with us. I am very sorry for your loss.”

“Thank you,” Jongdae said softly.

“So, this account has very specific instructions. Per the orders of the client, Kim Mina, this account must remain active, money must never be withdrawn from it, and it is to be left intact for a predetermined amount of time.”

Jongdae had no idea what to make of those instructions.

“This account has regular automatic deposits made into it, right?”

“Yes, weekly,” the manager confirmed

“Where are those deposits coming from?”

The man typed into his computer then said, “It appears to be a business called CCL. I can give you their address and contact information if you like?”

“That would be great,” Jongdae said, and the man wrote the information down for him and handed it to him.

“So, if you agree to the instructions, I can go ahead and transfer the account solely to you. Otherwise, I have been instructed to keep it as a joint account.”

“You said it has to stay this way for a predetermined amount of time,” Jongdae said. “What is that predetermined amount of time?”

“Per the other account holder’s instructions, I am not at liberty to tell you until you’ve agreed to the instructions.”

Jongdae felt very confused about this. He almost felt as if he was playing a game that Mina had set up for him, and then he wondered why his sister had gone through all this trouble in the first place.

“I agree to the instructions then,” Jongdae said.

“Good,” the man said with a smile. He typed some more things into the computer and then addressed Jongdae again. “The account has been transferred. I now must warn you that should you violate the instructions placed on this account, a freeze will be placed on the account until the money removed has been returned. In other words, do not violate the terms of the instructions.”

“Okay, but can I ask why my sister set this account up like this?”

“We follow our clients’ orders, we do not require reasons nor ask for them. Can I help you with anything else?”

“You were going to tell me the predetermined amount of time.”

“You will receive all of the information for this account in the mail. The specific instructions for this account will be outlined in the documents you receive. Should you have any further questions after you receive the documents, you can always reach out to us and we’ll be more than happy to help.”

Jongdae was so very confused.

“How long do I have to wait for these documents to arrive?”

“Three to five business days.”

Jongdae thanked the bank manager for his time and left with his bodyguard and the envelope in his hands.

***

“Nothing about this account makes sense,” Yixing said as they walked across the damp grounds toward where the security guard cabins were stationed.

“Nothing,” Jongdae agreed, having filled him in on everything that had transpired in the bank manager’s office. “Why would Mina do this?  It’s crazy.”

“It’s so carefully planned,” Yixing observed. “Mina was very calculating. There was something very specific she intended for this account.”

“Then why didn’t she tell me what it was? Or that it even existed? I don’t understand any of this.”

They reached the main security cabin just as the rain began to pick up again, having given them enough of a respite to walk to the cabin without getting soaked.

They stepped inside with his two bodyguards in tow and Jongdae nodded to the staff who had stood and bowed to him in greeting.

“I’m actually here to speak to you,” he told his former bodyguard, who had been standing and drinking from a mug. The man’s raincoat was soaked, no doubt from his duties of walking the perimeter.

The other men vacated the main cabin room to allow for them to speak, and Jongdae sat at the table, motioning for the man to join him. Yixing and the two bodyguards stood off to the corner to allow them a semblance of privacy.

“I realized that I never apologized to you,” Jongdae began. “For both putting up with me and getting you into trouble. But I also realized that I never thanked you, for saving my life that day with the Wu family. So, I’m sorry, and thank you.”

The man nodded humbly and settled his hands around the mug he had set down on the table.

“I’m the one who should apologize,” he said. “I failed in my duties to protect you.”

“There’s nothing you could have done. I was very determined to follow through on all of my bad ideas.”

“I should have been more diligent in my duties,” he said. “I learned a lot from my experiences as your bodyguard.”

“And I know you’ve passed along that wisdom to my new ones,” Jongdae said, trying to be light about it. “So, I’m in good hands. Four hands.”

“Two certainly aren’t enough,” he said, and Jongdae thought that maybe now he was being light about it, so Jongdae gave him a light smirk, and then nodded to him before standing up.

“I’ll make sure you’re promoted to a better position when I can. Right now, it’s a little more difficult to do with things the way they are,” Jongdae said.

“I appreciate the sentiment,” he said, standing up as well. “I’ll have made sure to have earned it by then.”

They left the cabins, Jongdae feeling better about having spoken to him, thinking about how there were a lot of favors he was going to have to repay when he reached his goal of returning the family to the status they belonged at.

As they walked, he called Baekhyun who picked up with a less than enthused tone.

“I’m so sorry. I still haven’t found anything,” he said.

“It’s okay. I got the information myself.”

“Oh good! I don’t know why this was so hard to find out this time.”

“I think it has something to do with the weird extra security my sister put on this account to begin with,” Jongdae explained. “So, I have a company name and contact information for you. Can you check them out for me?”

“I’m on it! This time I won’t fail you.”

“I’m sure you won’t,” Jongdae said, his eyes amused as Yixing looked over at him. He hung up after giving him the information and shook his head. “He’s crazy.”

“A good crazy,” Yixing said. “Race you to the house!” He then said.

Yixing took off, catching Jongdae by surprise, and he chased after him, trying to catch up and only barely doing so as he ran into the house, bending over and setting his hands on his knees as he caught his breath.

“You okay?” Yixing asked him, breathing heavily as well.

“Yeah,” Jongdae said, “I’m just really out of shape.”

“It felt good, didn’t it?”

Jongdae looked up at Yixing, and he finally broke, giving him a small smile, that made Yixing smile even wider.

“Catch me if you can!” Jongdae yelled out, running back out of the house, into the rain and loving every moment of how it felt as he ran to the gazebo and lay down on the floor, the rain hammering down upon the wooden roof and falling in sheets around him.

Yixing caught up to him and lay down beside him, grabbing Jongdae’s wrist.

“Caught you,” Yixing said, and then he busted out laughing.

And Jongdae couldn’t quite join him in laughing, but his smile grew wider to the point where his eyes got smaller and he looked at Yixing who looked at him and seemed to be the most relaxed that Jongdae had seen him in a year.

***

Jongdae woke up the next morning to the news that the Kang family had almost been hit.

“We knew it was coming because of our insider,” Minseok explained to him and Yixing during breakfast. “Following Park orders, I went down there with some of our security guys to provide extra protection, and it worked. The cops took a look at the heightened security and abandoned the mission.”

“I don’t like that the Park’s put you guys in harm’s way instead of their own people,” Jongdae said, “But I’m glad it worked.”

“Well to them, we are now their people,” Minseok shrugged off. “And the more expendable ones since they care about us less. Anyway, it worked. But now this guy in charge knows he’s got a mole in his department giving us a heads-up, so our guy has to lay low for a while, meaning no new information for a bit. You guys really can’t leave the house right now while we’re flying blind.”

“That’s great,” Jongdae said with sarcasm as he ate rice from his bowl.

“How much closer are we to ending all this?” Yixing asked.

“Not close enough if we’re dealing with this,” Minseok replied.

Jongdae couldn’t shake how much it bothered him that the Park’s were not only calling all the shots for their family, but also using their resources for their benefits in the way that best suited them without any regard to the Kim family. He had to put an end to this somehow, especially if his father had given up on doing so.

“I’m about to ask a really stupid question,” Jongdae said, looking at Minseok. “If we know who the guy is that’s in charge of all this, why don’t we just take him out? The Park’s have two assassins right now, right? We have one. Surely one of them could do the job.”

“Because then we run the risk of them being able to trace the assassin back to the family and then they have legal footing to come after us,” Minseok explained.

“Then why don’t we hire the Academy to do it?”

There was a moment of silence, and it was Yixing that broke it.

“I think the goal here,” Yixing treaded carefully, “Is to bring this to a resolution without lives being lost.”

“Yeah, if we hit them, then they hit us, it doesn’t really end,” Minseok said. “The operation has to be shut down. That’s it.”

“Killing people doesn’t tend to ever be the best solution,” Yixing told him. “Killing in general,” he added.

“You have to think bigger,” Minseok nodded. “But the fact that you offered a solution is a good sign. Keep them coming.”

He realized he was terrible at this, even with Minseok’s encouragement. Of course, his idea was bad and would only make things worse. Those seemed to be the only ideas he could come up with. If only he could be like his sister who came up with complex banking accounts for purposes that couldn’t be deciphered. She would have had a solution to this problem already.

He ate his rice in silence as Minseok and Yixing continued to speak, listening to their words and attempting to learn by paying attention to their logic as they discussed issues and possible solutions.

***

Jongdae had just climbed into bed when Baekhyun called him.

“CCL is a wind power company,” Baekhyun announced, though Jongdae could barely hear him on the phone because of the wind blowing in the background.

“A wind power company?” Jongdae asked to make sure.

“Yep! They have a lot of windmills. You should see them. They’re really cool. Well they were cool during the day, now they’re still cool but you can’t see them. You can only see the red lights on each of them, and they blink on and off at the same time, so it’s crazy looking, almost like they’re sending a signal.”

“What are you… where are you?”

“At the wind farm,” Baekhyun said. “The one CCL owns.”

“I can barely hear you.”

“Oh, hold on,” Baekhyun said, and Jongdae heard a lot of jostling and movement, and then the sound of a car door opening and closing. “Okay, can you hear me now?”

“Yes, much better.”

“So, yeah, I came down to talk to the management…”

“You actually went to talk to them?” Jongdae asked. “You couldn’t just call?”

“Well I wasn’t getting answers on the phone, so instead I drove out here. I don’t actually know where I am, but it took up pretty much all the gas that was in this car, so I have to find a gas station before making my way back up.”

“Are you implying you didn’t use your own car?”

“Oh, I don’t have a car.”

“Okay, I’m going to pretend that I didn’t hear that. Tell me what you found out.”

“Right, so this company has only been in existence for a few years. They were an experimental wind energy startup and they needed backers to get off the ground. As it turns out, your sister was one of the backers to help finance them. Her returns on her investment are automatically deposited weekly into the account in question. I asked the lady if she was aware that she was deceased, and the lady said that the people in charge were aware, but per the legal documents signed by them and your sister, they were to continue to deposit money into the account until the company ceased to exist and there was no more money coming in. They said that they feared the Kim family coming and finding them if they ever tried to pull one over on you guys and stop the deposits. They were under the impression that the family knew about this as a whole.”

Jongdae’s mind spun at this information.

“Thank you,” he said. “That’s not at all what I was expecting, but then again, I don’t know what I was expecting. I’ll have Minseok meet up with you tomorrow to deliver your payment for finding that out.”

“Okay, it’s too bad it can’t be you though. I miss you.”

Jongdae wasn’t sure if he should be amused or touched, but he half-smiled and said, “Oddly I miss you too. If you have any brilliant ideas on how to bring down this cop guy making our lives miserable, then let me know. The quicker he goes down, the quicker I can be allowed out of this house and back to our training.”

“Okay. I’ll try and figure something out. Oh oh, I have to go.”

“What? Are you okay?”

“Um, I’ll call you later. Bye!”

Baekhyun hung up and Jongdae texted him to text him that he was okay when he got to a safe place. An hour later, as Jongdae attempted to fall asleep, he saw the screen light up with a text from Baekhyun saying, “SAFE!” Jongdae breathed a sigh of relief and finally fell asleep.


	6. (Two Moons)

When Kyungsoo had come home looking lost and wearing a tux, Baekhyun had asked him two very simple questions, “Are you okay? What are you wearing?”

Kyungsoo had answered neither and had gone straight to his room, and the next day when Baekhyun had seen him in the morning, he was staring out the window, in what would become another quiet day.

When the following day was also a quiet day, Baekhyun had decided an intervention was in order.

“Are you really not going to talk to me about whatever happened?” Baekhyun asked him, and Kyungsoo had finally peeled his eyes away from the rain that fell outside the window and looked at him.

“I want to go see my mother,” Kyungsoo had said, and Baekhyun nodded and went to change.

Baekhyun had only been living with Kyungsoo for a few weeks when Kyungsoo had first mentioned he was going to see his mother. Because Baekhyun had been following Kyungsoo for a while, he knew what he had meant by that.

“Can I come with you?” Baekhyun had asked him. Kyungsoo had frozen a bit at the request, and Baekhyun promptly told him. “I know. I followed you for a while, remember? I saw you visiting her before.”

Kyungsoo had not been happy to hear that, and he had glared at Baekhyun causing him to jump back and giggle nervously as he did whenever Kyungsoo glared.

“I didn’t know,” Baekhyun defended himself. “It’s not like I’d knew you’d go there. I understand it’s a private thing. It’s just that, I want to thank her and tell her about what you did for me, letting me stay with you and everything.”

Kyungsoo had lightened up a bit at hearing this, and he had allowed him to accompany him, Baekhyun very much telling his mother how grateful he was for Kyungsoo and how she raised an amazing man.

Now, Baekhyun always went with Kyungsoo to visit his mother, and in return, Kyungsoo always accompanied Baekhyun to the site where the apartment building that had burned down with Baekhyun’s parents in it once stood. Baekhyun always left flowers for them on the steps of the new building that now stood in its place, and he would tell them that he would try harder to try and make them proud, even though he knew he had yet to follow through on his word. Kyungsoo would always thank his parents for saving Baekhyun’s life so that he had someone to watch movies with and to try new recipes on.

The rain seemed to fall harder as the two boys walked side-by-side, both holding their own respective umbrellas. They said nothing to each other, until they reached the grave marked with the tombstone that had Kyungsoo’s mother’s name engraved upon it.

Baekhyun waited for Kyungsoo to speak first, giving him the time he needed, taking note that he seemed to be having a hard time today saying anything at all. He glanced at him for a moment to see his friend staring at the tombstone, his expression unreadable. After a moment longer, Kyungsoo finally spoke.

“I miss you,” he said. “I really need you right now.  I want to talk to you about something really weird, but I can’t because you’re not here. I think there’s something wrong with me. Also, it’s raining. I know how much you loved the rain, so I thought you should know. You’re probably very happy right now, right? Do you have a smile on your face? I think you do. Baekhyun is here too. Say hi, Baekhyun.”

“Hi, mama,” Baekhyun said. “I told Kyungsoo that he could talk to me, but he really wants to talk to you instead, but don’t worry, I’m going to listen to him when he’s ready and give him really good advice like you would. Oh, also, he’s gotten more handsome. The other night he was wearing a tuxedo and he looked like a very distinguished gentleman. You’re proud, right? Yeah, me too. Okay, I’ll let Kyungsoo have you back now.”

“Don’t worry, I will talk to him about it. I just needed a day or two to sort out my own thoughts, but I haven’t sorted them out yet. I give up on sorting them. I wanted to talk to you first about it, or let you know that this is one of those times where I really need you. I know before you left you said that I would be fine without you, but I think that you meant something different. Like I’d be able to feed myself, but not whatever this is. Anyway, I’ll let you enjoy the rain. I love you. I miss you.”

Baekhyun watched Kyungsoo kiss his hand and touch it to the tombstone, and then he turned and Baekhyun turned with him, following him to wherever he felt he needed to go next.

It turned out that Kyungsoo was hungry, and Baekhyun sat with him at the fried chicken place that they often frequented after visiting the cemetery. They ordered two beers and drank silently as they waited for their food to come out. The rain continued its steady stream outside, and Baekhyun stared at it, while he waited for Kyungsoo to finally speak.

“I was dressed in a tuxedo because Chanyeol had wanted me to accompany him to a high society function,” Kyungsoo said, and Baekhyun turned his attention back to him. “It was stupid. He left me in a bar to drink while he went up to a hotel room to hook up with this random girl he had met there.”

Baekhyun frowned at that. Who invited someone to something just to leave them alone?

“I don’t know why it made me so upset,” Kyungsoo continued. “Like what do I care if he hooks up with a random girl at a party? I don’t care what he does.”

Baekhyun waited for Kyungsoo to continue, but when he didn’t, he asked, “Did you wish it was you instead?”

“No,” Kyungsoo said, his eyes showing shock at the question. “Why would I wish that?”

Baekhyun sighed, not sure how to go about having this conversation with Kyungsoo. If there was one thing they had spoken about before and knew they had in common, it was that neither of them had ever had a relationship with anyone, and neither of them had ever cared much to. But Kyungsoo’s odd behavior since spending more time with Chanyeol could not be overlooked.

“I know you’re freaked out,” Baekhyun told him. “Whatever you’re feeling about Chanyeol? I have no idea what that is. I’ve never felt that. But I know that you either have to do something about it, or you have to walk away. What you’re doing now isn’t going to work.”

“I’m not feeling anything about Chanyeol.”

“Lying about it doesn’t make it untrue.”

“What is this? I don’t understand what this is,” Kyungsoo said, looking frustrated by the conversation. “Sometimes I look at him and I want to punch him for being so full of himself. And other times I look at him and want to touch him and fix his hair and stare at his stupidly handsome face. Why does he look like that? Like what the hell?”

“Yeah, and why is he so tall?” Baekhyun played along. “It isn’t fair. Like, he could have shared some of his height with the both of us.”

“But he never would because he probably feels like he deserves to have been born a perfect tall height.”

“Now I want to punch him,” Baekhyun commented.

“And his ears,” Kyungsoo continued, “They’re so big.”

“They could conduct electricity,” Baekhyun teased, but Kyungsoo was on a roll.

“So much of him is big. His hands are really big.”

“You know what they say about a man with big hands,” Baekhyun offered.

“But he’s also small. Like a small person trapped in this big body. There’s something about him that makes you want to protect him.”

“I can’t believe you didn’t hit me for the big hands comment.”

“But then he just takes this random girl to bed,” Kyungsoo said. “He didn’t even know her. He just hooked up with her like nothing. Like who does that?”

“Park Chanyeol,” Baekhyun answered. “And that’s twice you’ve mentioned the random girl hookup.”

“And see, this is all pointless because he clearly likes girls. So here I am letting this tall person affect me for no reason, because it’s nothing. I’m nothing to him. None of this makes any sense.”

“Yeah, it seems…”

“I don’t have time for this,” Kyungsoo cut him off with indignation. “I have things to do. I need to go back to school and get a degree, like I said I would do when I left the Park family in the first place. I have to go live my life, and my life doesn’t involve the Park’s, especially not Chanyeol.”

“Do you think, later on in life, after your college thing and when you get a normal job, that you’ll allow yourself to fall for someone then?”

Their chicken was finally brought out to them and they dug in, Kyungsoo eating a piece before answering the question, maybe needing the time to consider it.

“I’ve never thought about it,” Kyungsoo admitted. “I never thought there would be a possibility.”

“Why not? The whole point of you leaving the Park family was to have a normal life. Falling in love, getting married, having kids, that’s all part of normal life. So, you had to expect it to happen to you at some point.”

“I never thought about it,” Kyungsoo said again. “I just assumed I’d always be alone with you as a roommate.”

“I don’t know if you’d like living in the little apartment of the herbal medicine shop,” Baekhyun told him in between chicken bites.

“I was going to buy the shop next to yours and turn it into a hair salon, and then we could make a door to connect them and we’d each have our own apartment, but it would be like we were still roommates.”

Baekhyun smiled at the idea because it was a happy idea, and because he wished that would happen, but he knew better. Life was never kind enough to make things that simple.

“Well, I guess that could be our backup plan,” Baekhyun said, “If you don’t find the person of your dreams in college or your job and marry them.”

“I don’t think I will. If that’s what this is, and this is how it feels, then I don’t like how this feels, and I don’t want it.”

“What is it that scares you about it?”

“Everything?”

“And here I thought you were taught to be fearless.”

“Only with a gun.”

“Answer me honestly, Soo,” Baekhyun said, “Do you find Park Chanyeol attractive?”

“Well he is.”

“Do you find Park Chanyeol attractive? Answer the question.”

“Obviously yes. I wish I looked like him.”

“In a perfect world, where he liked guys, would you want to kiss him?”

“No.”

“Would you want him to kiss you?”

“No.”

“Are you answering me honestly?”

“No.”

Baekhyun almost laughed, but he knew now wasn’t the time, so instead he let out a soft breath of a chuckle and looked down in amusement for a moment before focusing back on the man across from him.

“I know this is all up to you,” Baekhyun said, “But I think, if your mom was the one sitting here talking with you and giving you advice on this, she would say to embrace your feelings. Yes, they’re scary. I have no idea how scary they are, but I can see from looking at you and talking to you, that they seem super scary. But they’re your feelings and they’re happening for a reason, and you shouldn’t hide that or push it away. I think it would be like having an upset stomach, but ignoring it and pretending it’s not really bothering you. And then one day, the pain is too much and you end up in a hospital and it turns out you have an ulcer, when if you had just acknowledged the pain initially, the doctor could have given you medication to keep it from becoming an ulcer. I’m not sure if that’s really how ulcers work, but you know what I’m trying to say, right?”

Kyungsoo looked at him for a moment and then nodded.

“Yeah, yeah I do,” Kyungsoo said. “Chanyeol’s been calling me to come by, and I’ve been telling him I’m sick and I can’t. I suppose I can text him that I can stop by tomorrow.”

“And what’s your game plan?”

“To quit,” Kyungsoo said. “Hopefully that will prevent the ulcer from developing.”

“Well, I suppose that’s one strategy.”

“That’s the only strategy. I have things to focus on. I don’t have time for this.”

“That’s fair,” Baekhyun said, thinking that Kyungsoo had nothing but time on his hands. 

The idea of a normal life seemed boring anyway, and if Baekhyun had been in Kyungsoo’s shoes, he would have jumped at the chance to see what the falling in love adventure felt like.


	7. (Waning Crescent)

Chanyeol had tried to focus on dealing with the important matters at hand without letting the fact that D.O. was now playing sick and refusing to come in to work distract him. But he knew he hadn’t been quite successful when his mother cornered him in the kitchen during the afternoon.

“Talk to me,” she said, standing beside him at the counter as he absently ate a sandwich he had put together himself, not having wanted to bother the kitchen staff that was in the process of prepping for dinner.

“I’m eating?” He said, not sure what she had meant.

“I wanted to bring something up to you, but in your current state, I feel it better if we discuss what’s been bothering you instead.

“Nothing’s been bothering me,” he said.

“Your outburst at dinner the other night really has me worried. I know there’s a lot of pressure on you now with everything going on. Parenting right now is probably too much for you to worry about. You know we’re here to help, right? You don’t have to do this on your own.”

“I already heard this speech from dad,” he mentioned.

“Your father is wise. You should listen to him.”

“I can handle things. It’s fine.”

“No one can handle everything. I know your answer to this, but I’ll suggest it anyway. I’ve been thinking that maybe Taemin should have his own room.”

Chanyeol looked at his mother and asked, “Why do you think he should have his own room?”

“Well, he’s never had his own room for starters. And since he’s stuck here for the time being and doesn’t get to leave the house to even go to the park now, it might give him something new to be excited about. Plus, I know that you worry about him all night long, and any little disturbance he makes, whether a cough or a bad dream, wakes you up. I imagine you having your own room again might help you sleep better at night.”

“Nothing’s going to help me sleep better at night, much less worrying about my kid that I can’t check up on because he’s in another room. Things work the way they are. There’s no need to change them.”

“I know your concern is that you don’t want him getting attached to the idea of being here, but he’s already attached. There’s nothing you can do about that. Whether you give him his own room or not, you are still going to have a very upset kid on your hands when you take him away. Stop being selfish about this and do what’s right for him.”

“What’s right for him is getting out of here right now and never looking back,” Chanyeol snapped. “Fine, I’m being selfish, but I’m being selfish for him.”

“No, you’re being selfish for yourself. Having us in his life, having him here, is what’s best for him. Surrounded by his family and with more protection than you could ever give him on your own. This is all about you. You didn’t like growing up here, so you don’t want him growing up here. You’re making a decision for him based upon how you feel about everything.”

“I’m so sorry that I don’t want my son growing up around this. I’m sorry that I don’t want him to worry about whether another high family might come attack us, or if the cops are going to take his father away forever, or about why he can’t leave the fucking house and has to stay on lockdown for periods of time. Who would want that for their kid?”

“Nobody,” she said, “And watch your tone. I’m only being patient with this attitude right now because you have a lot on your shoulders and I know you’re stressed. But to answer your question, nobody wants that for their kid. I certainly didn’t want that for you, but that’s the family we are, and that’s what you were born into, and we do the best we can under those circumstances. Your life could have turned out much worse. I’m so sorry that we spoiled you and gave you the best of everything and made sure you had anything you wanted. I’m so sorry that growing up in this house was so horrible for you.”

The guilt washed over Chanyeol and he shook his head, not able to take the sight of his mother so visibly upset by his words.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Oh, yes you did. This is not the first time you’ve said those things. Your aunt likes to remind me that I raised you all wrong. That I didn’t raise you correctly to be in a family like this, the way she did with Jongin. She’s right. I was too busy trying to make sure you were happy and loved and that you walked your own path, that I didn’t bother even trying to make sure you accepted your family in the process. You’ve always felt you were too good to be in this family.”

Chanyeol shook his head.

“Why are you shaking your head? You know it’s true. We all know it. The older you got, the more convinced you were that you were better than all of this. Better than all of us. Better than your cousin, because you were going to forge your own path while he stayed here doing this. Better than your father, because you refused to follow in his footsteps. Better than me, because I never spoke up and supported all of this. Even better than your former best friend, who I heard you treated with complete disrespect when he first came to visit on behalf of his family. You’ve always thought you were better than all of us, but look who’s the one here now calling the shots as if he’s been doing it all along? And yet you still act like you’re better than everyone in this house, when you’re exactly the same as the rest of us.”

Chanyeol’s chest constricted at these words and he looked at his mother in disbelief. He didn’t know what to say back to her, so he just stared, feeling hurt and feeling as if his pride had taken a complete tumble.

“I didn’t know I had been such a disappointment to you,” he finally said.

“I never said that,” she told him. “You’re not a disappointment to me or anyone here. Your father and I have always been proud to call you our son. But I did you no favors by not telling you that your ego was out of line earlier in your life. It’s partially my fault. I didn’t think my son had to be humble. As far as I was concerned, your father was a king, and you were a prince. I treated you accordingly. But now that I see the damage it’s causing, I have to say something. You’re still a prince to me, but even a prince should be humble.”

All he could think about at that moment was all the times D.O. had called him out for these very things, and it had hurt when he had said it, but that hurt did not compare to the pain of hearing those words coming from his mother’s lips.

“I don’t think I’m better than you,” Chanyeol said weakly.

“In this family, we help each other,” his mother said, dismissing the sentiment. “We look out for each other, and we’re here for each other. That’s what kind of family it is. Even though you feel that you are above us, we’re all still here to do that for you, so let us. That’s all I’m saying. We all know how you feel about us, but we all still love you regardless, and we all want to help. That’s all. Do with that information what you will.”

His mother left and Chanyeol stood stunned, not able to consider anything much less another bite from his sandwich. He left it on the counter and went for a walk through the grounds, not caring that it was raining or that he hadn’t dressed appropriately for a walk through the cool, wet day.

In his mind, it hadn’t been that he thought he was better than his family or anyone in it. At least that’s not how he had thought he felt about it. He thought his father was the greatest person in the world. He thought his mother was the best mother in the world. He loved Jongin and his other family members, though he loved his aunt a little less for her snide commentary. He never understood why Jongin or other family members didn’t feel the way he did, but he just assumed that this life fit some people better than others. He didn’t think he looked down upon Jongin for fitting into it. He just knew that this life didn’t fit him.

If anything, he had always felt that his family thought that he didn’t fit in well, and that it made him the lesser member. It was part of why he did want to escape and try and live his own life. It was his way of trying to figure out what life he was supposed to be living instead, since he didn’t fit into the one he had grown up in.

He tried to not dwell too much on these thoughts as he went about the rest of the day and evening, but later that night, when it was time to put Taemin to bed, he asked his son a question.

“Now that you’re older, do you want your own room to sleep in?”

“My own room?” Taemin looked dubious about this question.

“This house has a lot of rooms, and if you wanted, you can have one of your own to sleep in. You don’t have to. If you want to keep sleeping here with me that’s okay too. I like that you’re here with me.”

“I get my own room?” He asked again.

“If you want. Do you want your own room?”

Taemin nodded with excitement and Chanyeol felt his stomach sink, while also feeling his heart swell at seeing his son’s excitement. Everything felt conflicting today.

“Okay, I’ll talk to your grandmother tomorrow about it and we’ll get your bed moved into your new room okay?”

“Okay,” he said with a big smile. “And my clothes too?”

“Yep, your clothes. And your stuffed animals that you like to sleep with. All of your stuff can go in your room.”

“And my toys?”

“Some of them, if you like, but I think most of your toys should stay in your playroom, right?”

“Okay,” he said nodding with excitement, and Chanyeol gave him a kiss on the head before reading him his bedtime story and watching his son fall asleep with a large smile on his face.

***

The fact that the next day was colder, drearier and wetter than the one before did nothing for Chanyeol’s psyche as he started his work day. He had very much wanted to stay in bed, wrapped up in his heavy blankets, not having to deal with a single thing that day. But unfortunately, he knew he did not have that luxury.

He was briefed on how they were doing after the success of their Kang operation, and he was informed that they had made no progress on finding out anything new now that their contact had to remain quiet. With not much that could be done at the moment, and no word that the Commissioner General had made any moves to help them yet, Chanyeol turned the conversation to the thing most on his mind.

“Did you get in touch with D.O.?” He asked Junmyeon.

“Yes, he’s scheduled to arrive soon,” his advisor told him, and Chanyeol tried to keep a poker face.

As much as he knew what he wanted to say to him, he still didn’t really want to say it.

“Are you still sure of your decision of letting him go?” Junmyeon asked him, and Chanyeol nodded.

“It’s the only thing to do,” he stated. “I don’t have time for things like this. I have to focus on the family.”

“Kind of speaking of the family,” Junmyeon said. “Something happened the other day that we didn’t bring up to you because it wasn’t important, but, I feel you should know.”

“What happened?” Chanyeol looked at Junmyeon concerned, not wanting him to say another message had been sent.

“It’s nothing bad,” Junmyeon told him to calm him a bit, appearing to have sensed that Chanyeol’s blood pressure appeared to have risen. “I just thought you’d like to know on a personal level that Jongdae violated the terms of the lockdown.”

“He did? Why?”

“According to the guard that reported it to us, he wasn’t feeling well and his bodyguards took him to the hospital. They returned him in three hours without incident, but I thought you’d like to know.”

“Is he okay?”

“I’m guessing he is. We didn’t hear anything after that.”

Chanyeol did wish he could see Jongdae and check up on him, but after his mother’s words to him yesterday, he imagined that he was probably Jongdae’s least-favorite person these days.

“Thank you for telling me,” Chanyeol said, “I would like to be kept up to date on how he’s doing.  I know we’re not close anymore, but I am worried about him.”

“Understandable,” Junmyeon said. “I will let you know if I find out anything.”

Conversing about Jongdae had taken his mind off D.O. just long enough for him to arrive, and then Chanyeol was on edge all over again.

When he entered, Chanyeol had to try hard to not stare at how D.O. looked, his hair brushed down and close to his head and raindrops glistening off the sleeves of his black leather jacket.

“I’ll leave you two alone,” Junmyeon said, giving Chanyeol an encouraging look before leaving the office.

D.O. did not step forward, standing close to the door as he looked at Chanyeol.

“I hope you’re feeling better,” Chanyeol said.

“I am,” D.O. replied.

He didn’t look any different than he had when he had last seen him, and Chanyeol realized that he needed to get to the point.

“I’ve made a decision,” Chanyeol said.

“I quit,” D.O. stated before Chanyeol could finish his sentence.

“Oh,” Chanyeol said, his brows furrowing, but then he got his mind back on track. “Well, that works out, because I was going to say that I think it’s best if I went ahead and dismissed you, so, you can go back to your secret life.”

“I agree with that decision,” D.O. said.

And then the two men stared at each other for a moment, Chanyeol feeling confused by whatever they had just done.

“Why did you decide to quit?” Chanyeol then asked him.

“Why did you decide to dismiss me?”

“I asked you first.”

“You don’t need to know my reasons.”

Silence settled in again, but just as Chanyeol made no mention of him leaving, D.O. made no motion of doing so.

Chanyeol placed his hands on his father’s desk and then leaned forward and placed his chin upon them, his brows knitted together as he tried to work through this situation. It was clear that D.O. planned on giving him no information as to why he had suddenly turned cold on him, so maybe it was him that needed to do the explaining. His mother’s words haunted him, and he certainly didn’t want D.O. to think he thought he was beneath him, and then it dawned on him that that’s exactly how he had been treating D.O. since the moment he had met him.

“Damn it,” Chanyeol said to himself and he lifted his head back up to look at D.O., who stared at him with what looked like a bit of concern. “This is my fault. I’m so sorry. I treated you like shit from the moment I met you. Obviously, you’d have no respect for me under those circumstances. You have every right to be cold and upset with me.”

“It’s not all your fault,” D.O. said.

“No, it is. I didn’t trust you, and I thought you weren’t worthy to even be here because you had left the family, and I assumed it was for terrible reasons, so I just kept looking down at you, both figuratively and literally,” Chanyeol said, more to himself, not trying to make light of the situation, and then he continued.

“But the thing is, I really started to enjoy your company. I liked talking to you, even though you would always say things that would put me in my place, but it made me think a lot about myself and how I was coming across. And then that night at the museum event, the way you came through and helped me out so much. I thought it was amazing. I was so excited to talk to you about it after, and I thought we could celebrate it even more and see what we could tag team on next, but then you just kept brushing me off, but it’s probably because you thought I had used you for your skills or something. I don’t know. I just want to know what changed that night, I guess. Can you at least tell me that before you go?”

Chanyeol watched as D.O. seemed to debate answering the question, and then he said with a soft tone, “It doesn’t matter.”

“It does matter,” Chanyeol said. “It matters to me anyway. For my own peace of mind, I guess. Not that you owe me that or that I deserve it. You don’t owe me anything. If anything, I owe you so much.”

“I enjoyed your company as well,” D.O. then said, and Chanyeol was surprised to hear that, but also warmed by it. “I enjoyed it too much.”

“Too much?” Chanyeol asked, not sure what he could mean by that. “How?”

“An assassin’s life is a lonely one for a reason. Connecting with people makes it harder to do your job. I’m not used to connecting with people, and it started to freak me out that I was connecting with you.”

Chanyeol’s eyes widened at this, thinking that it made so much sense, but also feeling his stomach flip a little at the idea that D.O. felt he had been connecting with him.

“I felt I was connecting with you too,” Chanyeol said quickly before D.O. walked out and he lost his chance to tell him that. “I have a similar problem. Because of the type of work our family does, I make it a point to not connect with people either. I think it freaked me out too that I was connecting with you.”

D.O. seemed to consider this and then he said, “Is that how you were able to take that girl to bed without knowing her? Is that what you do to not connect?”

“Yes,” Chanyeol said, and then he remembered how Jongin and Junmyeon had harped on that aspect of the night when talking about D.O.’s shift in behavior. He also remembered how D.O. had thrown it in his face during their sudden argument in the hallway. “Wait,” Chanyeol said thinking about this, “Why did that bother you so much that night? That I hooked up with her.”

D.O. looked away, again seeming as if he had to think about it before replying. Chanyeol had too many theories running through his mind to pick one, and he hoped that D.O. would just tell him the truth.

“I thought you wanted me to come with you to spend time together,” D.O. said. “There was no other reason to have brought me along when all you needed to bring was a security guard. So, I guess, I was upset that I had suddenly become a third wheel.”

D.O.’s tone and words dripped of honesty, and Chanyeol knew that he would have to return the same tone with his own, but he couldn’t quite figure out how to say the truth of what he had been thinking that night.

“I’m sorry I made you feel that way,” Chanyeol said. “I did invite you so we could hang out. I thought it would make the night more fun, and I was so nervous about the mission that I needed the distraction, but then, you became too much of a distraction, so I had to go get another distraction.”

“I was too much of a distraction?” D.O. asked, his eyebrows raising in surprise.

“You have no idea how well you wear a tux,” Chanyeol let slip, and then he covered his mouth with his hands as he realized that he had said that out loud, and he looked at D.O. with wide eyes.

For his part, D.O.’s eyes also widened even more, which was a feat in itself.

“I didn’t say that,” Chanyeol said, his hands still covering his mouth.

D.O.’s eyes returned to a less-wide state, as he said, “You said that.”

Chanyeol shook his head. He was going to die. How did that happen? How had that slipped out?

D.O. now stepped forward, approaching the desk and looking at him with the normal stare he usually gave him.

“You took a girl to bed that night,” D.O. said to him. “You have a son, meaning that you were with a girl to do that. I assumed you were only into girls.”

“I don’t have a gender preference,” Chanyeol admitted, slowly removing his hands from his mouth and staring at D.O. now that he had moved so much closer to him.

“Oh,” D.O. said.

“Why does that matter though?” Chanyeol asked him, hoping his cheeks weren’t as red as they felt.

“Because that night I found out how well you wear a tux as well.”

Chanyeol felt his heart pounding fast, too stunned to react as he looked at D.O., who looked back at him with a slight panicked look on his face.

“Oh shit,” Chanyeol said.

“I can’t do this,” D.O. said, running his hand through his hair.

“I can’t do this either,” Chanyeol said, getting up from his father’s chair and pacing back and forth beside the desk.

“I should go,” D.O. said.

“Yeah,” Chanyeol said.

“Okay,” D.O. said and he turned to leave, and Chanyeol now felt panic rise within him.

Just as D.O. reached out to grab the doorknob, Chanyeol darted to the door and slammed his hand against it to keep it shut.

D.O. looked up at him, and Chanyeol knew this was a bad idea, but after the last few days, he knew what he needed to do more than anything else at that moment.

He snaked his arm around D.O.’s waist and used his own body to push him up against the door, keeping his other hand on the door, in fear that D.O. would dart out of there as fast as he could.  He looked down into D.O.’s large doe eyes, trying to decipher the look he was giving him, something that looked like a cross between fear and desire.

Chanyeol hoped he read him right, as he brought his head down, finding his lips with his own and finally getting to taste what those heart-shaped lips tasted like. D.O.’s lips felt soft, but still a bit cool from the outside wind, and Chanyeol had no issues with taking on the task of warming them up as he felt D.O. settle into the kiss.

The kiss was electrifying and Chanyeol’s mind began to race with all the things he wanted to do at that moment, like get that wet jacket off of D.O. and run his fingers through his hair, but he took a breath instead, only for a split second, to tilt his head to the other side and catch his lips again, giving himself a moment to breathe, and giving D.O. a moment to protest, which he did not.

Chanyeol had the thought that he could do this forever, that kissing D.O. was a dream he did not ever need to be awakened from, but he also knew that he had to give them both a moment to catch their breath, so he finally pulled his lips away, just enough for them to both regulate their breathing with soft pants while Chanyeol stared into D.O.’s eyes.

“You didn’t leave fast enough,” Chanyeol told him.

“I didn’t want to leave at all,” D.O. confessed, looking up at him, still looking a little bit panicked, and Chanyeol felt the sudden need to reassure him and comfort him.

He removed his hand from D.O.’s back and lifted it up to his face, caressing his cheek and letting his hand settle right on his jawline.

“I didn’t want you to leave either,” Chanyeol assured him.

“I’ve never done this.”

“You’ve never done what?”

“Any of this,” D.O. told him.

“Have you never kissed anyone before?” Chanyeol then asked, unsure all of a sudden and wondering if that was why he looked so scared.

“No, I have, but only to learn how to do it. Not because I was with someone or anything.”

“Wait, the only time before right now, that you’ve ever kissed anyone was purely academic?”

D.O. nodded, starting to look more panicked again.

“That’s amazing,” Chanyeol said, “Because you’re so good at it.”

“I had a really good teacher,” D.O. said.

“Remind me to thank him, or her.”

“Him.”

“Him,” Chanyeol said, and he smiled and wanted to hear all the details about it. He wanted to hear all the details about everything pertaining to D.O. from his entire existence. “Oh God,” he then said as he thought about this, losing his smile a bit. “What are we going to do about this?”

“I don’t know,” D.O. said, “I’ve never done this. What do people normally do about this?”  He looked at Chanyeol expectantly.

“It’s weird,” Chanyeol said, allowing the thoughts to settle in his mind. “I always said I didn’t want to be with someone like this because I didn’t want to bring them into this world, but… you’re already part of it.”

“But I left it.”

“Oh, yeah,” Chanyeol said, his mood deflating a bit. He had thought that maybe he had found a loophole, but then again… “You know, I don’t plan on staying in this world. I guess, what I meant is that, you know how to handle yourself, with whatever comes up that’s associated with this world, but it doesn’t actually matter, because I just can’t do this again. I’ve done this before and it shouldn’t have happened. I swore I would never go through that again. Do you get what I’m trying to say? Because I feel I sound kind of dumb right now.”

“I get it,” D.O. said, “And there’s also my side of things.”

“Right,” Chanyeol nodded. “The assassin’s life.”

“Not that,” D.O. said. “I left that behind. I just mean, I’ve never done this before. I know I keep saying that, but this is really scary. I’ve never been attracted to anyone before. I never thought about it. I don’t know why you brought that out in me or made me feel all these things, but I don’t know what to do about it, and I feel I should just disappear again and get my head on straight and move on with my life.”

“Right,” Chanyeol said again, frowning at this, and finally pulling his hand away from the door, taking a small step back to give them both some space as he ran his hand through his hair in frustration. “Okay, then I guess if you want to leave…”

“I don’t want to leave.”

“But, we can’t really do anything about this.”

“I know.”

“So, what are we going to do about this?”

“I don’t know.”

“In a perfect world, what would you want to happen?” Chanyeol asked him, looking for anything that could help them out here.

“This isn’t a perfect world.”

“I know, that’s… just answer the question.”

“In a perfect world, you wouldn’t have let go of me and stepped away. In a perfect world, you’d still be kissing me.”

“Fuck,” Chanyeol said, because how was he going to be able to say no to that? He closed the gap again, putting his hand back on D.O.’s jawline as he leaned in to give him another kiss.

This was so bad and Chanyeol didn’t care that this went against all of his reservations. God, he had missed this way too much. Feeling something real as he kissed someone and touched their face and felt something back that wasn’t just lust or superficial pleasures.

And this time, D.O. touched him back. It was soft, a tentative touch of his hand to Chanyeol’s arm, but it made Chanyeol feel warm, and he intensified the kiss in return.

When their lips were sore and swollen, Chanyeol passed his finger over D.O.’s lips, tracing the outline of the heart.

“Do you know how obsessed I’ve been with your heart-shaped lips?” Chanyeol asked him.

“Do you know how obsessed I’ve been with your stupid ears?” D.O. asked him back.

“I don’t think those words have ever come out of anyone’s mouth before,” Chanyeol said, feeling a bit of excitement at hearing them.

D.O. gave him a small smile that almost made Chanyeol melt. The shorter man got on his tippy toes and leaned toward Chanyeol’s left, and then Chanyeol felt those heart-shaped lips on his left ear and he almost combusted.

“Oh my God,” Chanyeol said, and he knew he was blushing hard. There was no point in denying it.

D.O. stood back straight in front of him and gave him a big smile, probably at his reaction, and it was the same smile that Chanyeol had seen him give to his father.

“Oh my God,” Chanyeol said again. “I’m so in trouble.”

“I think we both are.”

“Are you hungry?” Chanyeol asked him.

“I’m always hungry.”

“Do you want to go get sushi?”

“Are you asking me out on a date?”

Chanyeol blushed again and then nodded.

“I think I am,” Chanyeol confirmed. “I think we need to talk about this, and figure this out.”

“Then yes,” D.O. said.

“Okay, let me go get my jacket and an umbrella and let Junmyeon know that I’m heading out. How about I meet you in the foyer?”

“Okay,” D.O. said.

And before Chanyeol left to do any of these things, he pulled D.O. in for another kiss, because he didn’t want to let him go just yet.

***

Chanyeol could only stare at D.O., who sat across from him, eating a spicy tuna roll and staring back at him.

“It’s good. You should try it,” he said.

“I had this problem the first time we had lunch together,” Chanyeol stated, finally picking up a roll to try. “I like watching you eat.”

“You’re weird,” D.O. said, but he said it with a smile.

“So, the first thing I want to know about you, or think I should know about you,” Chanyeol said, “Is your name. What’s your real name? Because I’m pretty sure your mother did not name you D.O.” He said with a joking smile, finally trying the spicy tuna roll, which as D.O. said, was certainly good.

“It kind of is my name,” D.O. answered, his eyes narrowing a little as if he had to think about the answer. “If I tell you this, you can’t tell anyone else. Only you and your father would know.”

“I promise I won’t tell,” Chanyeol nodded.

“My family name is Do. Which is where the D.O. nickname came from. My given name is Kyungsoo.”

“Do Kyungsoo,” Chanyeol said, letting the name slide off his tongue and not for a moment thinking that he ever would have guessed that to be his name. “Kyungsoo,” he said again. “I’ve heard that name before.”

He tried to place it, and then he realized where he had heard it.

“My father once said it,” Chanyeol said, he suddenly realized. “He wasn’t coherent really. It was soon after the assassination attempt. I had been sitting by his bedside, playing with this random little music box that was on his night stand and he said your name. I asked Junmyeon to try and figure out who that name belonged to, but we got so busy and sidetracked with other things that we forgot all about it.”

D.O. blinked several times and seemed to look at him and then at the food and back at him.

“When I heard about your father,” D.O. said, “I was very scared for him, and very upset. I knew I couldn’t come visit him, so I sent him the music box instead so he knew that I was thinking of him and wishing him a quick recovery.”

Chanyeol felt touched at the gesture, and he said, “He was so out of it, and yet he knew that it had come from you. My father really cares a lot about you.”

“Yes, I think we covered this when you showed how jealous you were about it.”

“That feels like a lifetime ago,” Chanyeol said, and it hadn’t been, but today felt like the start of a brand-new life in a way. At least he hoped it was. “Will you tell me now how you and my father met?”

D.O. seemed to debate this and then nodded, as if needing to answer his own question before telling him the story.

“I was twelve when I met your father. I was in a corner store and had just stolen some bread and noodles. Your father had seen me and he followed me outside and asked me what I thought I was doing. I told him it was none of his business. I ran as fast as I could away from him, and luckily, he didn’t follow. A couple of days later, I was in the middle of a fight with a group of kids my age. They liked to bully me a lot because I was a lot smaller than them, but I always held my own ground and I threw a mean punch. Your father happened to be walking by at that moment, and he intervened.”

D.O. took a sip of his sake and then continued.

“As you know, your father can be an intimidating man when he wants to be. We all took off running, but I wasn’t quick enough and he grabbed my shirt and pulled me to the side. He asked me what the fight was about. I told him it was none of his business. He asked me if I needed money. I told him that was also none of his business. Then he asked me if I wanted to do a job for him and he would pay me. I asked him what kind of job. It was something simple enough. Delivering a message to a shopkeeper. I did it, he paid me. The next time we ran into each other, he had caught me beating up a kid that had tried to rat me out to one of our teachers for copying answers from his test. Your father broke up the fight and asked me where I lived. I refused to tell him, but he grabbed me and put me in his car, driving up and down the blocks he kept seeing me at until I broke and pointed to the building I lived in. I tried to run from him when I got out, but his security was there to catch me. I took him up to our apartment. I thought I was in trouble.”

Chanyeol could only imagine. He wondered why his father felt so determined to reach out to him.

“My mother opened the door, and your father told her that he had stopped a fight with me and another boy. She told him that she was grateful, and that she knew the other boys liked to pick on me, but that I could take care of myself. Your father, however, said he wanted to help. My mother, of course, told him we didn’t need it. But your father was insistent and said that he knew people that could teach me how to defend myself better. He didn’t press the issue once my mother said it wouldn’t be necessary. So, he left, and I remember my mother telling me to stay away from him. I didn’t understand then why. But a couple of days later, I was running away from a fight that had gotten out of hand, when I made the mistake of turning into an alleyway with no exit. The boys that followed me had me cornered, and I looked around and found a piece of wood by a trash can. I picked it up and held it up, ready to use it to defend myself. When one of the boys started running toward me, I used all my force to hit him with the wood. I ended up hitting him in the head and he went straight to the ground, knocked out cold.”

Chanyeol knew that his face showed worry and concern, as if he was there with him experiencing this moment.

“His friends ran away and I tried to wake him up, but he wouldn’t. It turns out your father had been following me that day as well, and he showed up and said he’d take him to the hospital. He told me to wait in the car. He didn’t die, thankfully, but it did take him some time to recover. I thought I would get in trouble, but your father told me not to worry, and that he had taken care of everything. I was grateful to him for that.

“In the car, I asked him how I could repay him. He asked me if I wanted to work for him. I told him that I thought I already was working for him. He explained to me that he was the head of a high family, and that having seen me fight, he thought I’d be a good fit for his security team. He said that they would teach me how to defend myself better, and he said that he would pay me really well so I could help out my mother. It’s like he knew those were the two things I most wanted. So, I agreed to join the family.”

Chanyeol felt guilt rush over him again, thinking once more about the words his mother had told him the day before. He always thought he knew that he had it easy in life, but now he realized just how privileged he truly had been, never having to worry about trying to help his parents out monetarily, or having to steal food and fight off bullies.

“At first, he had me learning self-defense with the security guards,” D.O. continued. “Basic combat moves and ways to disarm people. I did well and I remember the head of security had told me that I had a naturally intimidating look that would make up for my small stature. Then one day, the security guards took me to the firing range to teach me how to use a gun. I had never held one before, and I didn’t know what to expect when I fired one. I remember one of the security guards saying that it was like those shooting video games, but I told him that I had never played one. I picked up the basics easily, and at first, it did feel like a game, which is why I got good at it quickly, almost as if I felt I had to keep beating my highest score. They reported this to your father, who took an even bigger interest in me and decided to introduce me to the family’s assassin. I became his charge at that point, and he became my mentor. It was then that the game ended. Instead of an inanimate target, he took me to the woods to have me practice on live animals. I didn’t want to kill any animals, and I couldn’t at first, but the more I trained with him, the more he taught me to disconnect myself from the emotions I felt.”

D.O. shook his head at the memory and shrugged.

Chanyeol’s heart ached, and he wanted to reach out to touch him in a comforting way, but he continued to sit there and listen.

“It wasn’t easy, and I thought about quitting, but your father said it would get easier, and he promised me that if I stayed loyal to the family and learned to do this, that he would take care of me and my mother financially for the rest of our lives. So, I did my job, and he took care of us. He had originally told me that the people that I’d be sent to kill were bad people. As I got older, I realized that wasn’t true. Sometimes people had to be taken out for something as simple as being in the way of a business takeover. They had done nothing wrong. They had families and friends that loved them and depended on them. But it was my job to not think about those things and just do what I had been ordered to do. So, I did. And I never missed.”

Chanyeol let out a deep breath because there was too much for him to process and think about. He didn’t want to think too hard about what kind of a person his father was to see an opportunity of a poor child and play on his emotions to hire him to work for the family. In that situation, Chanyeol would have just donated money to the family, but his father seemed to always find ways to turn all situations into ones that would benefit him in the long run.

“I’m so sorry,” Chanyeol said. “My father shouldn’t have done that to you.”

“Why not?” D.O. asked him. “I wasn’t ever going to amount to anything in my life. I hated school. I always got in trouble. Your father knew that a kid like me in the situation I was growing up in would have limited opportunities in life. He saw some sort of potential in me that no one had ever seen before. Your father gave me a chance to be more. It was my choice to seek it out. I could have turned him down.”

“You were twelve and he played on your emotions. I don’t think you were mature enough to have made that decision. If I had wanted to help a young boy and his mother, I would have donated money, not turned a kid into an assassin. You needed to be protected, not used.”

“What is the greater act of charity? Protecting someone or teaching them how to protect themselves?”

Chanyeol could only think about the criticism that had been thrown at him by others about how he was overprotective of Taemin. Both his father’s and his mother’s words hit him hard at that moment.

“But sometimes you have to protect,” Chanyeol said, staring off a bit as he thought about this, but then he looked at D.O. again, “I keep getting told I’m overprotective of my son. I don’t want to be running this family and living in my parents’ house because I want to protect him from all of this.”

“You can’t,” D.O. said.

“But it’s my job to protect him. As his father.”

“As his father, it’s your job to prepare him for the world. That’s what your father did with me, and I’m forever grateful to him for it.”

Chanyeol picked up another tuna roll to eat as he thought about this.

“I think it’s my turn,” D.O. said. “So, you have a son. But, I’ve never heard mention of a mother, other than rumors that she had been a stripper. Will you tell me about that?”

Chanyeol took a deep breath and let it out slowly, not sure how to answer. He wanted to say “no,” but D.O. had shared so much.

“I’m very guarded about that information,” Chanyeol told him, and D.O. nodded in understanding. “You’re trusting me with your name, so, I’ll tell you that no, she wasn’t a stripper.  But you can’t tell anyone that.”

“I won’t,” D.O. assured him.  “So, who was she then?”

Chanyeol shook his head and said, “Ask me something else. I’ll tell you one day. When I’m ready.”

D.O. gave him a small smile in acknowledgement, then asked, “You keep saying you don’t want to do this. What is it that you’d rather be doing?”

“I want to be an elementary school teacher,” Chanyeol said.

D.O. raised his eyebrows at him.

“I know it sounds random,” Chanyeol said before he could make a comment. “I wanted to do that when I was younger because I liked all the activities that I did in elementary school. Once my son was born and he got to a playable age, I realized that I could sit in his playroom and play with him all day. The idea of getting paid to do that is very appealing.”

“That’s adorable,” D.O. said, and his eyes seemed bright with amusement.

“It’s still my dream,” Chanyeol. “When my father gets better, and I go back to my real life, I’m going back to school to finish my education degree so I can do that.”

“You had started it?”

“Yeah, after I finished my military service, I enrolled in university. I was on my way to getting my degree until I became a single dad. I put it on hold to take care of him, and then I got a job because I’m a social person. So, having a job was kind of like my ‘me’ time. I didn’t really need it. I know I had it easy. Even when I left home to live my life away from all this, my parents never really stopped taking care of me. They made sure I was financially taken care of, even more so when my son came into the picture.”

“It sounds exactly like what your parents would do,” D.O. said with a warm smile.

Chanyeol had barely survived speaking to him when he only got glares and intimidating looks, now with smiles mixed in, it became even more impossible to keep his thoughts coherent when speaking to him.

“You have the best smile,” Chanyeol told him. “I think it’s because it’s so unexpected. Like you glare, or glower, and look ready to kill, then you smile and your whole face lights up into this…I don’t know, mochi ball.”

“Mochi ball?”

“I have no description for what happens to your face when you smile, okay? I just know I want it to happen all the time.”

D.O. smiled at that.

“Damn you,” Chanyeol said. “Okay, I’m next. So, what does your mother think now about all of this?”

D.O. lost his smile, and Chanyeol wished he hadn’t asked.

“Ask me something else,” D.O. said.

“Um, okay, so where do you live?”

D.O. made a slightly frustrated face and shook his head, then said, “Ask me something else.”

“Really?” Chanyeol asked. “Are you still trying to hide from us?”

“No,” D.O. said, “It’s just complicated.”

“Okay, um, what did you do after you left the family?”

“I took some time off,” he said. “And then I did my military service, and then I enrolled in university. Thanks to your father. Like I said, school had never been my thing, but he got me a private tutor, and I ended up learning a lot better. I think the one-on-one instruction worked in my favor. So, that’s what I was doing before I came back because you were looking for me.”

“Wait, you’re in a university? How did we not find you?”

“You didn’t know my real name.”

“Oh, right,” Chanyeol said, nodding. “Wow. You are so stealth.”

“It was part of my training to be stealth.”

“What were you majoring in?”

“Business management.”

“Really? Why?”

“So, I could run my own hair salon one day.”

It was Chanyeol’s turn to look at him with an amused smile.

“Is that still your dream?”

“Yes,” D.O. said.

“I remember that day that you fixed my hair at the shooting range,” Chanyeol mentioned, and D.O. seemed to blush a little.

“Your hair is often messy,” he said, clearing his throat softly. “It’s instinct to want to fix it.”

“I’m a mess, generally,” Chanyeol said. “I’m clumsy also, you may as well know.”

“You clean up really well though,” D.O. remarked, and Chanyeol knew he meant the night that they were both in tuxes.

“I would say you do as well, but you always look well-put-together so you in a tux was more like you had leveled up to an even nicer looking version of you.”

“That was my first time ever wearing a tux.”

“I’m definitely going to find more events for us to go to.”

“Not if I end up being the third wheel again.”

“That will never happen again. You’re going to be my main event.”

“Am I?”

“I’m never taking anyone up to a hotel room again unless it’s you.”

“You’re never taking me up to a hotel room period.”

Chanyeol blinked and said, “Oh,” and wondered if he had been too forward in thinking they were flirting.

“I’m not spending nights with you in the same places you’ve taken all your conquests.”

“Oh,” Chanyeol said, relieved and understanding. “Okay, well my family owns hotels, so it’s convenient. And I mean, you won’t tell me where you live, so I’m sure that means your place is off limits. And the house is off limits for obvious reasons.”

“You’ll have time to figure it out,” he said. “Since you’re going to have to take me on a lot more dates before I agree to spend the night with you.”

“Oh really?”

“I think you’d agree we should take this slow, right?”

“Well, yeah,” Chanyeol said, a little disappointed, but he knew D.O. was right. “As long as slow doesn’t mean I can’t kiss you again.”

“You can kiss me whenever you like,” D.O. assured him, and Chanyeol smiled, causing D.O. to smile.

The server came to take their additional orders, having completed the first few plates, and Chanyeol poured them both more sake.

“Like I told you before,” D.O. continued. “I have no experience with this. It’s still scary for me. I need it to go slow.”

“I understand,” Chanyeol told him with a warm smile. “So, are you a virgin?”

“I think technically yes,” D.O. said, but he looked unsure.

“That was so vague,” Chanyeol said, wanting to decipher the words and know exactly what he’d be working with. “I know you were taught to kiss. Did this person teach you how to do anything else?”

“Uh…” D.O. seemed to consider how to answer. “Technically yes.”

“Like what?”

“We made out,” D.O. informed him.

“Okay,” Chanyeol nodded, filing this information.

“And, we touched each other. Until we, you know.”

“So, you guys like got each other off? Like hand jobs?”

“Yeah,” D.O. said, drinking his sake to hide the rosiness on his cheeks.

“Is that it? Is that as far as it went?”

“Yes.”

“That’s something at least,” Chanyeol told him with encouragement. “And you only did this once?”

“Yes,” D.O. confirmed. “How old were you when you first did things like that?”

“Oh,” Chanyeol said and he chuckled a bit self-conscious. “Not as early as people would like to believe. I was a bit of a late bloomer. I didn’t even notice people in that way until I was in high school.”

“That is surprising,” D.O. said. “With how you just randomly can hook up with people.”

“I know, it was like, I got a taste and dove all the way in. There was no in between. I had my first kiss as a junior, started making out with anyone after that, finally lost my virginity my senior year. That was with a girl. I lost my virginity with a boy in the military soon after.”

“Good thing you didn’t get caught.”

“I know,” Chanyeol said, knowing that the repercussions for that would have involved being shamed and unceremoniously discharged. “But yeah, I don’t know,” he said with a shrug.  “I knew that I didn’t want to commit to anyone. There were times that I really got invested in someone and I had to pull back because of my promise to myself to never involve myself too deeply. I didn’t want to put anyone’s life in danger by being associated with my family.”

“Your instinct to protect instead of teaching them to protect themselves,” D.O. pointed out.

“I guess so,” Chanyeol said, sobered to be reminded of that. He drank some of his sake and shook his head. “It’s really fucking hard to be a parent.”

“I bet it is.”

“I wouldn’t take it back or anything. I wouldn’t change what happened. I can’t imagine my life without my son in it. He gave me purpose when I didn’t think I had any. Having to raise him alone, I just feel like I have to do everything in my power to protect him and make sure he’s okay. Like it all falls on me.”

“Your family helps you though, don’t they?”

“I don’t want him to get attached to them, which, I know, he already is. But I don’t want him to get used to this life. Yesterday my mother gave me a verbal beating like I’ve never had before. She told me that I was selfish. That how I was treating my son and over protecting him was selfish. Yesterday was a really shitty day.”

“I’m sorry,” D.O. said. “Do you think she was right?”

“I know she was right. That’s what made it worse. My mother has always been right. So has my father. They’re kind of annoyingly good at the parent thing.”

“That’s why you turned out fine.”

“I turned out selfish.”

“But caring. A bit egotistical, but protective. You’re full of pros and cons. I noticed that about you early on.”

“Is that why you kept putting up with me?”

“That, and a strong desire to find the person that hurt your father.”

“You were ruthless with me at the beginning.”

“You deserved it.”

“But still. And you were so frustrating. You never gave me answers to anything.”

“I was trying to get you to focus.”

“When did you first have the thought that you wanted to kiss me,” Chanyeol asked him.

“When I saw you in your tux. What about you?”

“When we had lunch in the kitchen that first time and I couldn’t stop staring at you blowing your soup with those lips,” he said.

“You’ve known for that long?” D.O. asked him surprised.

“I don’t know about known, but I definitely thought that I wouldn’t have minded kissing you.”

A new platter of assorted sushi and sashimi was brought out to them and they dug in, commenting on which pieces they liked better than the other.

“The eel is really good,” D.O. remarked, feeding him a piece after he had tried it himself.

Chanyeol accepted it and ate it, giving a thumbs-up in agreement and saying, “Oh, that’s really good. We may have to get more of those.”

“I’m good with that idea.”

“You said you’re always hungry. Does that mean you really like food a lot or are you just always hungry?”

“I love food,” D.O. answered with a smile. “I’ll eat just about anything you put in front of me.”

“Do you cook?”

“I do. I love to cook.”

“Really?” Chanyeol asked surprised.

“It’s a good hobby. It keeps my mind occupied, and the results are delicious.”

“So maybe you can start a restaurant and a hair salon.”

“There’s a thought. Do you cook?”

“I never did until my son was born. I grew up with a cook. When I went out on my own, I just ate out a lot. But once I had a baby on my hands, that was less of an option. I would order in a lot at the beginning, but then I buckled down and started learning how to cook. I burnt or undercooked rice for a week straight before I finally got it down.”

“You should make me something,” D.O. said. “I would like to try your cooking.”

“It really wasn’t that good. I think you should cook for me.”

“We’ll take turns. Besides, your son grew up on your cooking. I’m sure he misses it.”

The idea warmed Chanyeol, and he did suddenly wonder if Taemin missed some of the food he would make for him.

“Okay, we can make that our second date. I’ll cook lunch for you tomorrow, and if you live to tell the tale, you can return the favor the following day.”

“I like the second date already.”

Chanyeol smiled at him, wanting to kiss him again and take him someplace where they could touch and get to know each other better physically.

“What?” D.O. asked him, looking curiously at his smile.

“I’m having very bad thoughts about you.”

“You have a one-track mind.”

“I do. It’s a problem. So, when you say slow. How slow?”

“Slow.”

“But like…”

“Slow.”

Chanyeol chuckled and then said, “So, you really can’t be my subadvisor. That’s not even a real position.”

“Everyone knows that.”

“Okay, not my finest moment,” Chanyeol admitted. “But still, we need to find you a new job. I mean, if you want. You do want to stay on, right? You’re not still quitting?”

“I’ll stay on. As long as I’m not an assassin. I don’t want to kill people, but, if I have to, I’m able to.”

“I don’t want you to have to,” Chanyeol told him.

“You can’t be a part of a high family and not be in a position to kill someone. Unless you’re an advisor, but you already have one of those, and he’s a really good one.”

“I don’t think our cook has to kill someone. You can take her position.”

“I would miss her soup. That was some of the best soup I’ve ever had.”

D.O. said this so earnestly that Chanyeol wanted to call her and have her make him soup and bring it over at that moment.

“What if you were my personal bodyguard?”

“You already have one.”

“I can reassign him.”

“I wouldn’t feel right about that.”

“It would be a parallel move. I wouldn’t demote him or anything. Maybe I’d make him Junmyeon’s personal bodyguard. He should have one. I’m sure he’d like to leave the house.”

“Advisors can’t have personal bodyguards when they visit other families,” D.O. reminded him.

“I know, but they can have one for unofficial business. I’m not sending him to meet with other families anyway while we’re on lockdown.”

“Then I could be his personal bodyguard,” D.O. said.

“Junmyeon is already almost hooking up with someone I used to hook up with, I’m not giving him the opportunity to take you too,” Chanyeol said as a joke and he made sure to give him a teasing grin.

“He is quite handsome,” D.O. played along.

“See? You’re my personal bodyguard. It’s settled.”

“What do you mean almost hooking up?”

“It’s a long story,” Chanyeol waved off. “I’ll have a meeting with Junmyeon and my bodyguard when I get back and let them know. Do you plan on coming back to the house as well or did you have plans already since you were quitting?”

“My plans were to go home and sleep, so I can come back to the house if you’d like.”

“I’d like.”

D.O. smiled and fed him the last eel on the plate, which Chanyeol savored, and they finished their sake and whatever remained of their food.

On the ride back to the house, Chanyeol threaded his fingers through D.O.’s as they sat side-by-side in the car, perhaps closer than they really needed to. Had his bodyguard not been in the front seat driving them, he would have tried to sneak in kisses as well.

***

Junmyeon had one eyebrow raised and his arms crossed as he said, “Hiring him as your personal bodyguard is the exact opposite of letting him go.”

“Right,” Chanyeol agreed. “But we discussed things over lunch, and we both have decided that this is in the best interest of the family considering the state of things.”

“The best interest of the family,” Junmyeon repeated back to him, probably to make sure Chanyeol heard how ridiculous his words sounded.

“And, having your own bodyguard means you can leave the house now.”

“Does it? Because that’s not the rule we’ve imposed for everyone else. Jongdae has two bodyguards and you still have him on lockdown.”

“Jongdae’s different. He was dangerous to himself and others. You’re fine. Besides, I’m sure you’ve been wanting to finally meet up with Sehun and make your phone romance official.”

Junmyeon did not look amused by that comment, and Chanyeol looked at his bodyguard instead.

“And you’ll get to hang out with Sehun too. It’ll be like old times.”

“I accept whatever orders you give me,” his bodyguard said, not appearing to be amused by the Sehun incentive either.

“It’s not a demotion,” Chanyeol told him. “You will be paid the same. Junmyeon is one of the most important parts of this family’s leadership, and he needs to be protected at all costs. I trust you completely with this.”

“I will take this assignment just as seriously as I’ve taken all the others.”

“Could you give us a moment?” Junmyeon asked the bodyguard, and the man nodded, bowing to Chanyeol before leaving the office.

“Okay, before you go off on me,” Chanyeol tried, but Junmyeon was at his desk, facing him quicker than he could speak.

“I want you to tell me exactly what’s going on,” his advisor demanded.

“We kissed.”

Junmyeon’s eyes widened and he sat down and leaned forward.

“Tell me everything.”

“I was going to let him go, he quit instead, I asked him why, we got to talking, it turns out we both thought the other looked great in a tuxedo, and we kissed.”

“I knew the feeling was mutual,” Junmyeon said more to himself. “But I’m not sure about you making him your personal bodyguard.”

“I figured that’s the best way to keep it low key. I don’t think this is something that we should be so public about under the circumstances. It’s a scary time for the family, and they need to know that I’m keeping our safety the priority, not some poorly-timed, sudden, whatever this is.”

“So, it doesn’t have a label yet,” Junmyeon commented.

“We’re taking things slow,” Chanyeol explained. “Getting to know each other better and so on.”

“That’s good,” Junmyeon said with a small smile. “It’s also good that you didn’t let your commitment issues get in the way.”

“He’s already part of this life. He knows how to defend himself. It kinda works. For now.”

“For now?”

“I don’t know how things will evolve once I leave. But I don’t want to think that far ahead. I’m enjoying this way more than I thought I would. I missed this feeling.”

Junmyeon nodded and reached across the desk to pat his hand.

“I’m glad you found it again,” he said, and then he pulled his hand away and said, “But you need to be very sure of what you’re doing here. An assassin is not trained the same way as security.”

“I actually found out during lunch that my father had him train to possibly be security first. Until he found out he could handle a gun really well.”

“That’s convenient for you then,” Junmyeon said, looking as if he was filing away this information. “Alright, I’ll trust your judgment on this. I will let Jongin know so he can inform whoever is affected by the security change.”

“Are you excited about freedom from the house?”

“I do miss my apartment and sleeping in my own bed,” he admitted. “I don’t think I’ll stay the night there just yet though. Not until the coast is clear. I may go and pick up some things though.”

“Are you meeting up with Sehun?” Chanyeol asked with a smirk.

“You don’t care about Sehun anymore remember?” Junmyeon threw at him. “Stop asking me about him.”

“But I’m nosy.”

“You have your own relationship to worry about.”

“So, it’s a relationship?”

“Strictly phone.”

“Not anymore.”

“Shut up,” Junmyeon said, standing up but not able to hide the smile on his face as he did so. “By the way, you should probably check in on Taemin. He hasn’t left his new room all day, and he’s been excited for you to return so he can give you the tour.”

Chanyeol made a small sound of frustration and stood up. “I forgot about that,” he explained, and rubbed the back of his head. “I’m trying to not let it get to me.”

“I was surprised you agreed to it.”

“My mother gave me an earful yesterday. I did it out of guilt.”

“I think it’s a good decision,” Junmyeon told him. “He’s very attached to you, and it’s a good thing for him to start learning some independence. Plus, he doesn’t have other kids to play with, so he needs something, you know?”

“Yeah,” Chanyeol nodded. “It just makes me feel like I’m losing grip on this whole situation. Like when the time comes, my parents will make it impossible for us to leave, and they’ll use him as leverage.”

“Your parents have never not let you get your way,” Junmyeon reminded him. “I think you have nothing to worry about.”

“We’ll see,” Chanyeol said, walking to the door and opening it so both men could walk out and go their respective ways.

***

“This is mine,” Taemin said patting the side of the dresser that had already been in the room. “And I put clothes here.”

He pulled on the bottom drawer with both of his hands, exerting just enough effort to get the large piece open. His clothes were in disarray, and Chanyeol could only imagine how much fun the housekeepers were going to have organizing that mess.

“And my drawing go here,” he said, pointing to a drawing he had put on the wall by the dresser, not quite able to have reached high enough to put above it.

Chanyeol closed the drawer for him and admired the drawing of what looked to be a dinosaur and a shoe, though he was sure it was something much more interesting in Taemin’s imagination.

“This is a great drawing,” he told him.

“Mhm,” Taemin agreed with a nod. “And daddy, you go here when you sleep over.”  He said pointing toward a space beside his bed where a wool rug had been laid down.

“You want me to sleep over?”

“Sometimes,” he said, already off toward a small bookcase that had been set up for his books. “This is where my books are.”

Chanyeol tried not to laugh at the “Sometimes” and instead turned his amused grin to Anya. “Was this bookcase always here?”

“Your mother may have gone a little overboard with purchasing pieces for his room today. She sent some of the guards to pick up the items she bought online this morning.”

Chanyeol let out a soft chuckle, imagining how excited his mother must have been.

“Daddy, you read this one tonight,” Taemin said, taking a book off the bookshelf and showing it to him before putting it back after Chanyeol agreed to the selection.

“So, are you happy with your room?” He finally asked him, once the tour was done, and Taemin nodded emphatically and jumped up and down.

“I’m happy!”

“I see that,” Chanyeol said with a laugh and he picked his son up to give him a good squeeze and a kiss on the cheek. “I’m happy that you’re happy.”

“Is daddy happy?”

“Very happy,” Chanyeol said, and Taemin hugged him tight.

***

Even though Chanyeol was in a good mood, he knew that a lot of the things D.O. had told him during lunch would keep bugging him unless he went to speak with his father.

He found the older man, sitting in the entertainment den, near the window as he stared out at the rain.

“When you take it for granted, you find it a nuisance,” his father said when he saw him walk over to him. “But when you’re given a second chance at life, suddenly rain seems magical.”

“Magical?” Chanyeol asked, pulling a chair to sit beside him so they could speak.

“Magical,” his father confirmed. “The rain cleanses. It washes away the old and helps the new to bloom.”

“You’re getting philosophical in your old age,” Chanyeol teased him lightly.

“Perhaps. You look well. Much better than in previous days.”

“I’ve had a slight shift in momentum,” Chanyeol said for a lack of a better explanation. “I want to stay in a good mood, but I found out some things today that I wanted to talk to you about.”

“Of course. What’s on your mind?”

“I had a long conversation with D.O. today.”

Chanyeol’s father turned his complete attention to Chanyeol, already appearing to be unsure of the conversation.

“I found out a lot of interesting things about him. Including how the two of you met, and how you ended up bringing him into the family.”

“He opened up to you?” His father asked with a very evident look of surprise upon his face.

“He did. We were having a meeting about his new position.”

“What new position?”

“He’s going to be my personal bodyguard.”

“No.”

“He agreed to it.”

“Why are you doing this?”

“This is nothing compared to you emotionally manipulating a twelve-year-old so you could train him to be a killer.”

“I gave him an opportunity.”

“He was a child. Why did he catch your attention? Why were you so insistent on bringing him into the family?”

“You don’t understand this yet because you haven’t had to do it, but recruiting people to join the family is not an easy task. We don’t put out ads and ask for applications. The most important part of being in a high family is loyalty, and loyalty is not easy to come by. People show loyalty to those they love, and usually people show love to their family. So, the people that are easiest for us to target for possible recruits, are people who have none, or don’t have enough. People who feel left out, who are lonely, and are looking for a family to join. When I met D.O., I saw an underdeveloped child, who was so poor he had to steal food for him and his mother, who was so angry that he took out his aggression on the other kids in his neighborhood, who was practically raising himself because his mother worked such long hours at the shop. He had no friends. He had no money. He had no future. His only family was his mother. He was a perfect recruit.”

“And I’m sure his mother didn’t like the idea.”

“No mother would,” his father said. “But you should also understand that my intention was not to bring him in as an assassin. I thought he would make a decent enough security guard. Finding out his talents with a gun was a surprise, and I did debate whether or not we should train him as an assassin, but in the end, I chose to have him do it. It seems heartless and callous, but I care about D.O. very much. I see a lot of myself in him. You and I are very different. You have a great charisma that you were born with. I did not as a child. I too did not find myself making friends easily. I knew what D.O. was going through. I had been there. I treated him as a son, mostly because I felt a great responsibility to him for putting him in the position I did.”

“The son you probably wish you had instead,” Chanyeol said, the feelings of jealousy not as strong now, but still surfacing just enough to make the comment.

“Not instead,” his father told him. “Your mother and I had always wanted more than one child. We wanted a house full of children. Children bring an energy to a home, a lifeline to a family. They are what remind you of your humanity when you’ve had to remove yourself from it to get work done. Unfortunately, your mother was not able to carry another child. We tried, but she miscarried a couple of times before we decided it wasn’t worth the pain of more losses. And it was fine because we already had a perfect son, and there was also Jongin, and then Mina and Jongdae. I loved that all of you spent so much time in the house together, driving the staff crazy and always up to your no-good adventures. Bringing D.O. into the family may have been my way of fulfilling my wish for another child. I often felt upset for him that I couldn’t introduce him to all of you so he could have other children to play with. But it would have hindered his ability to do his job.”

Chanyeol’s heart hurt at the idea. He wondered how aware D.O. had been of him and his friends running around all over the grounds while he was in the shooting range practicing.  Chanyeol had to blink the image away, feeling himself get too emotional by the thought.

“It’s part of why your mother and I are so happy to have Taemin here,” his father continued. “He brings that energy back. Although, I wish he too had another child to play with. Jongin has promised me at least four nieces and nephews, so at least there’s that, though I imagine it won’t be anytime soon.”

Chanyeol remained silent, still upset for D.O. and wondering why D.O. wasn’t upset at all about his own life and what he had been trained to do. Instead he was grateful for it, and Chanyeol could not process why.

“I’ve lost you again,” his father said. “So, you haven’t told me. Why have you made D.O. your personal bodyguard?”

“He’s been useful to our current needs so I want to keep him close by.”

“If he bothers you so much, you could have him work with Jongin for the time being. Until this is all resolved and he can leave to live in peace.”

“I’ve already made the decision and it’s been reported to those who need to know about the change. My bodyguard will now be Junmyeon’s bodyguard for when he’s not interacting with families, of course.”

“These are very interesting decisions you’ve made, but I trust your judgment. If D.O. has opened up to you, then that means he must not have the same reservations about you that you have about him.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Chanyeol said standing up and putting the chair back from where he had grabbed it. “Enjoy the magical rain.”

“I will,” his father said.

Chanyeol left the room wishing he hadn’t bothered asking his father anything about the situation. He had ended up feeling more terrible for D.O., and he knew his father would have a hard time understanding that if he had told him. To his father, business was business. Chanyeol didn’t know how to keep the personal out of the business. Everyone kept telling him that he was a good leader like his father, but he couldn’t relate to a single decision his father had ever made.

***

Chanyeol found D.O. later in the bungalows, practicing Judo with a few of the other bodyguards. Chanyeol leaned against the wall with his arms crossed as he watched, silently cheering for D.O. to hold his grip on the man under him long enough to win the match.

“You have not lost your skills,” one of the older security guards said, patting D.O. on the back after he had been crowned victor.

“Yet, I feel rusty,” D.O. said bowing to him in gratitude. “I feel I have much to re-learn.”

“You will,” the man said. “It’s nice to have you back.”

D.O. thanked him then excused himself from the others, heading to the showers to change.

Chanyeol went outside to wait for him, glad the rain had seemed to finally let up.

“That was hot,” Chanyeol told him when D.O. finally joined him outside.

“I could practice some of those moves on you,” D.O. told him.

“I’m terrible at Judo,” Chanyeol told him. “You’d have me on the floor in no time. On second thought, I should let you practice some moves on me.”

“Again, with your one-track mind,” D.O. teased him.

“You started it this time,” Chanyeol teased him back. “Let’s go this way.”

Chanyeol led him toward the basketball court, knowing no one would be around there during this time of day.

“Are we playing?” D.O. asked him as they stepped onto the court.

“Yes, but not basketball,” Chanyeol replied, and he grabbed D.O. by the waist and pulled him closer, kissing him again finally. He felt D.O. tense up a bit and he reluctantly pulled away to look at him and ask, “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Just wasn’t expecting that. Slow, remember?” He looked around for a moment. “We’re really out in the open too.”

Slow. That was going to be hard for Chanyeol to get used to. He hadn’t had to do slow since high school.

“No one comes around here at this time,” Chanyeol assured him. “This is usually when I’m out here by myself, shooting hoops and trying to work my thoughts out.”

“Oh, well then good because I don’t want to embarrass you by beating you on your own court,” D.O. said, and he looked up at Chanyeol, seeming to consider something, then he reached up on his tippy toes to put his hand around Chanyeol’s neck as he leaned in this time to give Chanyeol a kiss instead.

Chanyeol found that he liked D.O. taking the initiative, falling into the way that D.O. pressed his lips to his and seemed to be exploring them with his own. He really had been taught to kiss well.

“There’s no way you’d beat me, short person,” Chanyeol heckled him back as they both caught their breaths and Chanyeol caressed the skin of D.O.’s cheek with his fingers as he stared at him.

“Mistake number one, underestimating me due to my height.”

“I’m actually all too aware of that mistake,” Chanyeol admitted. “When I was younger, my best friend at the time was much shorter than me and he always found ways to score. He was scrappy.”

“I’m scrappy.”

“Yeah, I saw that a few moments ago.”

“Is that why you like me? Do I remind you of your best friend?”

“Former best friend,” Chanyeol corrected him. “And no. I think the only thing you two have in common is your height and I guess the scrappy thing.”

“Who is your best friend now?” D.O. asked, dropping to his normal height and settling his hands a bit tentatively on Chanyeol’s hips as he looked up at him.

“I don’t know,” Chanyeol said, thinking about it for a moment. “I guess it would be my cousin, Jongin. We didn’t see each other much after I left initially, but after my son was born, he latched onto me again. It’s because of my kid. Jongin adores my son. At least I know, should anything ever happen to me, that Jongin would take care of him and raise him as his own. It’s comforting.”

“Well I’m your personal bodyguard now so you don’t have to worry about anything happening to you,” D.O. said with a smile.

Chanyeol had no choice but to drop his head down and give D.O. another kiss for the combination of that comment and smile. He moved his hands to D.O.’s shoulder blades and couldn’t stop them from trying to grab onto him as much as possible as he deepened the kiss just enough to make his desire clear without making D.O. feel as if he was moving too fast.

They caught their breaths again and Chanyeol asked him, “Who’s your best friend?”

“Ask me another question,” D.O. said.

Chanyeol smiled but was curious about the response, then realized probably why.

“Sorry,” Chanyeol said. “I forgot about the assassins don’t get attached thing. Um, I know you won’t tell me where you live, but what’s a typical day like for you at your home?”

“Boring?” D.O. asked in return. “I tend to just cook, eat, and watch movies.”

“I wish I could do those things with you,” Chanyeol said, and he twitched his lips a bit as he thought about how they couldn’t really have simple domestic things together in the situation they were in.

“Well you are cooking for me tomorrow. And we are eating together.”

“Yeah, but it won’t be the same,” Chanyeol pointed out. “The kitchen staff will be there as well, and whoever else chooses to walk in. There’s not a lot of privacy in this house. This is the most private place I could think to bring you.”

“I would go crazy if I didn’t get alone time,” D.O. told him. “I need my privacy.”

“I’m okay without it,” Chanyeol said. “I like being around people. It works for me. And I get my alone time and privacy when I go to bed at night. It’s just, now I want alone time and privacy with you.”

“What were some things that you would do in the past that would require only your bodyguard with you?”

“Mostly things that meant leaving the house. Running errands and such.”

“Then you’ll have to find more errands for us to run,” D.O. observed.

Chanyeol smiled and thought for a moment, “I could use some new shirts and pants, maybe a new cool pair of sneakers. I haven’t bought anything new in months.”

“I like this idea,” D.O. said, his eyes narrowing a little in mirth, “Because your fashion sense is lacking, and I could help you with it.”

“My fashion sense is not lacking,” Chanyeol pouted. “And what do you know about fashion sense anyway? All you do is wear black.”

“That’s my fashion sense,” D.O. pointed out. “You on the other hand look like you’re wearing the same five shirts that you’ve owned for years.”

“I’ll have you know I’ve only owned this shirt for four. Anyway, I’m tall, and it’s hard to find things that look right on me. You wouldn’t understand.”

“All I hear are excuses. Tomorrow we’ll go find clothes that will make it impossible for me not to stare at you.”

“You already find it impossible to not stare at me,” Chanyeol teased.

“Only because I’m trying to figure out what you’re wearing half the time.”

“That is not true,” Chanyeol said pulling away and shoving him playfully in the arm.

“It is true,” D.O. said with a smirk, but then he smiled after Chanyeol pouted again.

“Well I personally would like to see you in a color other than black,” Chanyeol stated

“Black isn’t a color.”

“Okay, Mr. I didn’t do well in school.”

“What color would you like to see me in?”

“Any color. Maybe red. I bet you’d look really good in red.”

“Then maybe tomorrow we’ll find something red for me.”

“I think we should go shopping now. I can skip dinner with my family. I see them all the time,” Chanyeol waved off with a joking smile.

“We’ll have fun tomorrow,” D.O. told him, coming back into his arms, knowing that their time this evening was running short.

Chanyeol held him and agreed, saying, “We will. And I’ll try to come up with other errands we can run.”

“I can’t wait.”

Chanyeol leaned down to place kisses on D.O.’s cheek, and then leaned his head to find the shorter man’s lips agan. They kissed for as long as they could before Chanyeol knew he had to get going.

That night at dinner, Chanyeol was in a much better mood and had no issues interacting at the table with all of his family members as Taemin entertained everyone with letting them know how much he loved his room.

Yet, that night, as Chanyeol had tried to not get too emotional about the missing bed beside his, and the lack of Taemin’s items around the room, and just as Chanyeol had settled in and snuggled into his sheets, he heard a soft knock on his door and turned to see it open slowly, then close.

He could make out the small figure that soon ran over to his bed, clutching one of his teddy bears as he pulled himself onto Chanyeol’s bed.

“Hey, what are you doing here?” Chanyeol asked his son, scooting over a bit so that his son could lie beside him. “Why aren’t you in your new room?”

“It’s too quiet,” Taemin said. “I sleep with daddy tonight?”

“Of course,” Chanyeol said, tucking his son into the covers and placing a kiss on his forehead. “You can always come sleep with me if you like.”

“Like a sleepover?”

“Yep, like a sleepover,” Chanyeol said, trying not to laugh, amused by his son’s obsession with the sleepover concept.

“Good night, daddy,” Taemin said, and Chanyeol gave him another kiss and told him good night.

Chanyeol slept better that night than he had in months.


	8. (Waxing Gibbous)

Jongdae was bored. He had been bored for a while now, but his boredom had now reached a new level.

“Why isn’t this resolved yet?” He whined, throwing the baseball back at Minseok, who caught it with ease.

The rain had finally passed and the day was cool, but sunny and bright. They decided to take advantage of it and play outside to get some fresh air and hopefully to help their psyche. Yixing sat to the side with the bodyguards, relaxing as they watched and enjoyed the sun.

“These things take time,” Minseok said, throwing the ball back at Jongdae.

He had to lean to the right to catch the baseball in his glove, and then he threw it back again.

“I can’t live like this,” Jongdae said, still with a whine. He couldn’t help it. Boredom and whininess seemed to go together well. “I have two bodyguards. I should be allowed to come and go as I please.”

“Well, I probably shouldn’t tell you this,” Minseok said. “But apparently Junmyeon’s been granted privileges to leave the house with a bodyguard. Chanyeol assigned him his bodyguard now that his former assassin is acting as his new one.”

“Which still seems weird,” Yixing offered from where he sat.

“Super weird,” Minseok nodded, having to jump for the ball, Jongdae’s aim having been a bit off that time.

“Why does Junmyeon get special privileges? And why is his assassin now his bodyguard?”

“Not sure and not sure. Jongin just passed along the information. He didn’t get into much detail, but even he seemed to not be the biggest fan of it.”

Jongdae knew there had to be a specific reason for it. Chanyeol didn’t seem to just do things for the sake of doing it.

“Is our guy on the force still laying low?” Jongdae then asked his cousin.

“Yep. Still no idea what’s happening over there.”

“Don’t any other families have contacts?”

“The ones that do are laying low as well.”

“Why don’t the Choi’s just end this?” Jongdae then asked. “If they’re the one with the direct connection, shouldn’t they be in charge of stopping all this?”

“They’re being careful because they don’t want the connection between them and the Commissioner to get out. Trust me, they were not thrilled to receive that call from Chanyeol that we had found out about it.”

“Why doesn’t Chanyeol leverage that to get them to act? He could offer to expose them instead.”

“I think he’s saving that for when he really has to use it.”

Jongdae didn’t throw the ball back, instead holding onto it as he wondered how he could use this instead for their benefit.

“Whatever you’re thinking, stop,” Minseok said walking over to him. “We’re not in a place to deal with this.”

“We have information that could bring this to an end,” Jongdae told him, and Yixing was quick to his feet as well, walking over to the both of them.

“We don’t know that,” Yixing said. “It’s probably why Chanyeol isn’t playing that card yet. I know we don’t love that the Park’s are running the show, but we can’t risk sabotaging whatever they have planned.”

“He’s right,” Minseok said. “We’re going to have to trust Chanyeol on this.”

“I can’t do this anymore,” Jongdae said. “I feel useless. I’m trapped in this house. I need to do something.”

“I can speak to Junmyeon about possibly having Chanyeol assign you a duty,” Yixing said. “I know you’d hate that idea, but it might give you something to do that can help everything.”

“That’s not the worst idea,” Minseok said.

“No, that’s actually the worst idea you ever could have told me,” Jongdae said upset by it.

“You’re going to have to put your pride aside for a bit here,” Minseok said. “We’ve all had to. Suck it up and ask Chanyeol how you can help. Don’t make Yixing do it. Just do it yourself.”

“I like how you still think I have any pride left,” Jongdae remarked.

“Come on,” Yixing said. “Don’t talk like that. You know you have plenty of pride left.”

“Whatever,” Jongdae said. “Can we sneak me out of the house again today? We can just say I’m sick again.”

“I think the Park’s are going to start to suspect something if we keep using that excuse,” Yixing pointed out.

“Why do you want to sneak out this time? I don’t even know why you snuck out the first time,” Minseok said.

“I just needed to get out of here.”

“I don’t buy that for a second. You’re up to something, and you’re not telling me.”

“You want me to grovel at Chanyeol’s feet for a job, you don’t get to know what I’m up to.”

“How are we related?” Minseok asked. “You seriously turn everything into an affront, like the universe has this grand scheme to make you suffer.”

“Minseok,” Yixing said, with a soft warning, giving him a look that Jongdae could only interpret as letting him know to tread carefully. 

It was the walking on eggshells thing that Jongdae had asked Yixing not to do, and now he was more upset.

“Don’t do that,” he snapped at his advisor. “If he wants to tell me something, he can tell me. I’m not a fragile child that can’t hear what someone has to say.”

Yixing’s eyes widened at the outburst.

“No, I’m not going to give you more fuel for your self-pity fire,” Minseok stated. “I get that you’re going through things, and that you’re depressed, and so on, but you’re not thinking anything through. You keep playing the victim in this whole situation. The Park’s did us a favor. It could have been done nicer without them bankrupting us and taking away our high family status in the process, but honestly, Dae, they don’t owe us that. We left their family. They don’t owe us anything. The rest of us are making this work. We’re done complaining about it. Either make it work for yourself, or go back to fucking school or something. You’re just making things worse for yourself.”

“Wow,” Jongdae said. “I think you’ve been spending way too much time with Jongin, buying into that Park family propaganda.”

“Don’t even go there with me,” Minseok said, his cat-like eyes narrowing in a threatening look, “No one sticks their neck out for our family more than I do. No one stands up for us more than I do. And no one tries to do what’s best for us more than I do. I’m trying to keep the spirit of our family alive. I once promised your sister that I would be the best right-hand man that this family had ever seen. I followed her lead on how to run this family while she was training, and everything you’ve done in her place has been exactly the opposite of what she would have done.”

Yixing dropped his head into his hands, and Jongdae stared at his cousin, wanting to fight back, but knowing that it was impossible to fight back against the truth.

Jongdae had to take a couple of deep breaths, but he let them out slowly and then nodded at his cousin.

“I’m sorry,” he told him. “And you’re right. I was very out of line just now.”

Yixing looked up surprised by his words, and even Minseok looked unsure.

“I don’t know why you never believe me when I tell you I’m on your side,” Minseok said, his voice less tense now. “I’ll add this to my list of things I mentioned just now. No one believes in you more than I do. I just keep waiting for you to finally get your shit together and make our family what it’s meant to be. But every time you fall into this version of you that starts acting like this, it just makes me realize that we’re far away from getting there.”

Again, Jongdae knew his cousin was right. He hadn’t always been like this. He used to be the type of person that would get a bad grade on a test and use that to motivate him to study harder and put in more time so that the following test, his score would be perfect. Where had that part of him disappeared to, he wondered.

“We’re not that far,” Jongdae said to him. “I am working on it. I just don’t know what I’m doing, and the person in charge of teaching me has appeared to permanently check out after almost losing everything he built. But I’m trying to figure it out and get us back to where we belong. I know I can suck it up and ask Chanyeol for an assignment, but the thing is, I have to build this family back up and, as of right now, none of the other high families think I can be a head of a family. They know about me. They know what I’ve done. They think I’m not mentally capable to do anything right now. If I go ask Chanyeol for a job, they’ll find out about that too. And that will also be used against me. I need to stop giving people ammunition when they already have so much to use.”

“But you can’t get us back to where we belong anytime soon,” Minseok told him. “It’s going to take years and a lot of planning to figure out how to get us out of the Park family’s grip, and that’s if we ever can. I believe you can do it, but not right now. Not in your current state. I’m sorry, Dae, but you’re supposed to be taking care of you right now, not worrying about fixing the family. Talk to Chanyeol. Ask him for an assignment. Prove to the other family members that you are an asset instead of a liability. That will help more in the long run.”

He didn’t want to let it get to him, but his chest hurt at hearing Minseok say those words to him.  He looked down at the ground for a moment, willing himself to keep it together. If he couldn’t handle criticism that came from compassion and caring from his own cousin, then how would he be able to handle the criticism of high family heads? He took another deep breath and looked up again at Minseok.

“I hear what you’re saying, and I will consider it.”

Jongdae turned and walked away because he felt done with the conversation. He knew Yixing would be by his side, and he was grateful when his advisor didn’t say anything as they walked back to the house.

***

When he went to the kitchen to pick up his dinner for the night, he ran into his mother who had been in there speaking with some of the staff.

He tried to grab his plate and make his leave without her noticing, but she spotted him and motioned for him to join her at the kitchen table.

He sat down, not intending to stay long enough to bother starting on his food.

“Did you need me for something?” Jongdae asked her.

“No, I just… the past week or so, you appeared to be showing parts of your old self again. Today you’re back to looking a bit down. I just want to make sure everything is okay. You’re taking your medication, right?”

“Every day,” he assured her and sighed. “Is there anything else?”

“Can I not have a few moments of my son’s time?” She asked. “You may not care to see me, but we live in the same house and I find myself missing you. Just let me look at you for a little bit, okay?”

“Okay,” he said, and since he was in this situation, he decided he may as well get her opinion on things. “So, because I’m bored, and getting whiny, and feel useless in this situation, Minseok suggested that I ask Chanyeol for an assignment. What do you think of that idea?”

“I don’t think it’s the worst idea,” she said, looking a bit intrigued by it. “You’re very intelligent, and I’m sure he could use your mind for helping to resolve some of these issues the families are dealing with.”

“Chanyeol has no respect for me. If I walk in there, chances are he’s going to laugh in my face and tell me to get out of his office and stop wasting his time. I’ve already had to deal with a lot of humiliation from him. I’d rather not go through that again.”

“I still don’t understand what happened between the two of you that he treats you like this.”

“Nothing happened. That’s the crazy part. I don’t know why he stopped being my friend, and I don’t know why he’s been treating me this way since we’ve had to interact this way. I find it very confusing, and yes, I can put aside my pride and ask him for an assignment, but I’m not confident he’ll give me one. I’m pretty sure, like everyone else, he thinks I’m a little useless right now.”

“Then show him you’re not. Taking the initiative and asking him for it may make him think differently.”

Jongdae shook his head to himself, thinking about all of it.

“You know that Mina never would have done that, right? Then again, she wouldn’t have found herself in this situation in the first place. If Mina was still here, we’d still be a high family.”

His mother’s eyes turned downcast for a moment and then she shook her head.

“Don’t compare yourself to your sister,” she said. “The two of you were never alike. You complemented each other well, but you never shared many traits. You can’t try and handle things the way she would. If you try and do that, it’s not going to work. You have to be true to yourself and find your own way of doing things. Instead of wondering what would Mina do, ask yourself, what would you do?”

“I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what I should do. That’s the problem. I feel I have no direction. Nothing guiding me. Every time I think I come up with a solution for something, or think I figured something out, Minseok or Yixing tell me why it’s a bad idea or why it won’t work.  I have no skills when it comes to this.”

“Give me an example.”

Jongdae furrowed his brows and tried to think of one.

“Okay, the other day I thought that if we hired The Academy to take out the cop responsible for the whole operation to bring the high families down, that it would solve all our problems. That got shot down by both of them. No pun intended.”

“Okay, before you were put into this situation. Back when you were still the carefree version of you that was in medical school. If someone had asked you back then for a solution on how to bring down the operation, what would you have said?”

“I would have asked what they were talking about because I’d have no idea what they were talking about.”

“Say you did. Say that Mina had been dealing with this issue instead, and she came to you to seek your advice. What advice would that version of you have given her?”

He had to think back to that time and try and figure out where his head was at. He pictured himself on campus, in one of the cafeterias, speaking with her while they ate and caught up. If she had brought something like that up to him, his first concern would have been for the safety of the family.

“I don’t know. I would have asked her if everyone was alright, and what was being done to make sure everyone was safe.”

“Has that thought crossed your mind even once since all this has happened?”

The look on his face gave the answer away, even as he took a moment to give it serious thought.

“No,” he said, almost ashamed to admit it. “I’ve just been upset that I caused all this and angry that we lost so much because of it. I’ve been thinking about how I can fix it. I guess I just assumed we were all safe somehow. And then Chanyeol instituted the lockdown so that felt safe.”

“A lockdown that you have violated, and not only you, but your advisor. And you let him violate it.”

“I tried to talk him out of it.”

“And you still let him. But continuing with our scenario, so let’s say Mina had told you that safety for everyone had been secured, but she couldn’t keep everyone on lockdown forever, and she needed a way to bring this person down or stop this operation. What would you have told her then?”

“To find the weakness. Every situation has a weakness. And if it seems like it doesn’t, then create one. Kind of like introducing bacteria into a petri dish of healthy blood cells and watching the white blood cells gang up on the bacteria. Then while they’re all distracted and busy fighting, that’s when you make your move.”

“And if Mina asked you what would that move be, what would you have suggested?”

He had no idea. He thought again of the scenario and could almost envision perfectly the look that would be on his sister’s face if she were to ask him that question.

“Negotiate,” Jongdae said, thinking through this. “See if there can be a possible resolution. And if the person refused to cooperate, then you shut the operation down yourself. Destroy the information on the computers, destroy the evidence they’ve collected, if they want to keep at it, then make them start back at ground zero, and that’s even if the force will approve investing that money to fund a massive project like that again. Chances are the whole thing would be shut down if you destroyed all the evidence.”

“I knew you were still in there,” his mother said to him with a warm smile.

And Jongdae was able to give her a small smile back filled with gratitude and a slight sense of renewed confidence.

***

The following morning, Jongdae ate his breakfast in silence in his office, thinking through everything that Minseok and his mother had told him the day before and coming to a decision.

Yixing joined him with his own breakfast a moment later, telling him “good morning” and asking him how he slept.

“I slept,” Jongdae replied, half-distracted by thinking through what he needed to do next. “I’ve decided I’m going to meet with Chanyeol and let him know that I’m ready to help.”

Yixing looked surprised by this, but also nodded his approval.

“I think it’s a good idea,” he told him. “I know you don’t want to do it, but I think it’ll turn out better than you think.”

“We’ll see,” he said. “Can you call Junmyeon and ask him to squeeze me into Chanyeol’s schedule today? Also, I’ll need permission to leave to see him.”

Yixing looked a bit dubious.

“You’re not planning any stops along the way, are you? You’re not just doing this to get out of the house and run more errands, are you?”

“No, but I could maybe pick up food on the way back or something, right?”

“I’ll let Junmyeon know we’re coming.”

“You have to stay here.”

“We’ve already been through this.”

“And I shouldn’t have let you come with me. Things are dangerous.”

“You have two bodyguards,” Yixing said. “We’ll pull a Park and say one of them is my bodyguard if you’re that concerned.”

Jongdae debated this, then nodded and said, “Okay.” He really didn’t think he could do this without Yixing by his side anyway.

Yixing made the call and then hung up and informed Jongdae that they’d be expected at noon.

“So,” Yixing then said, “I know you know this, but I’m going to tell you anyway. You need to keep it together in front of Chanyeol.”

“I know,” Jongdae said, but he also knew he needed to hear it. “In a way, this could be like a test. To see if I’m getting better.”

“You are getting better,” Yixing told him with a soft smile. “I’ve seen the difference. You have moments now where the old you peeks through. It is like a test, but maybe this time, if this doesn’t go well, and you end up having a panic attack, hopefully you’ll be able to bring it under control better.”

“I’m going to try very hard to get through this without a panic attack happening in the first place.”

“I know you can do it,” Yixing assured him with a smile. “Just remember, you’re going in there with a specific goal. You know what you want. Do your best to get it. And if you don’t, it’s okay because you didn’t have it in the first place. You literally have nothing to lose with this meeting.”

“Except what I’m ultimately hoping for is to be given some sort of duty that allows me to leave my home freely, with my bodyguards of course.”

“And again, you don’t have that now. You still have nothing to lose. But I do know how badly you want your freedom, so I know you will fight hard to get it.”

The positive affirmation lifted Jongdae’s mood, but he still arrived at the Park estate with trepidation, memories always assaulting him whenever he took in the familiar grounds he had spent so much of his youth in.

He walked into the elder Park’s office with Yixing and only one bodyguard, the other remaining outside with the Park security, and steeled himself for the chilly reception he was sure Chanyeol would give him.

He bowed in greeting and said, “Thank you for fitting me into your busy schedule,” and then he stood straight, expecting no greeting back.

But Chanyeol had nodded at him and motioned for him to take a seat across from him, and Jongdae made sure to not feel off balance by this act.

Junmyeon had motioned with a smile for Yixing to have a seat as well, and his advisor bowed to the Park advisor and took a seat.

His bodyguard stood beside a small man that Jongdae had never seen before, and Jongdae gave a curious glance at him before looking back at Chanyeol.

“Well, it looks like we both got some new bodyguards since the last time we saw each other,” Chanyeol commented, and Jongdae had to look back at the small man again to be sure, and then looked back at Chanyeol.

“I had heard your former assassin was now your personal bodyguard,” Jongdae said, but what he really wanted to say was how did he expect this tiny man to be responsible for his personal safety. He was sure the man was the same size as Jongdae, which meant Chanyeol towered over him.

“That is correct,” Chanyeol said. “He is very well trained. Looks can be deceiving, as they say. So, how are you?”

Jongdae reminded himself to not let these things get to him. He wasn’t sure if he was more surprised that Chanyeol was acting civil with him, or if he was annoyed that Chanyeol felt he had to be nice to him because of what he had heard about his mental state.

“I’m fine,” he replied, “How are you?”

“I’m good,” Chanyeol nodded. “I’m glad you’re fine. I heard you went to the hospital the other day.”

“So, the reason I wanted to see you today,” Jongdae said, switching subjects to keep things from triggering his emotions too much, “Is because I would like to help with whatever plans are in place to bring this all to an end. I was thinking you can assign me a duty. Is there something you need done that I could help with?”

Chanyeol didn’t seem to know how to respond to this, and he glanced over at Junmyeon, who didn’t seem to know either.

“I think we’ve got everything under control at the moment,” Chanyeol told him. “But if something comes up, maybe I can reach out to you about it.”

That answer was neither bad nor good, and Jongdae had not prepared for neutral. It took him a moment to regain his thoughts and he thought through what he knew about the situation.

“Don’t you think it’s a little weird that it’s taking so long for the Commissioner to do something?” Jongdae asked.

“When I spoke to him, he was very hesitant. I’m giving him time to figure it out, but his time is running short.”

“And what are you going to do then?”

“That’s something I’ve discussed with my security team. We’re not putting the information out there right now.”

“But don’t you think it’s a little weird that the Choi’s aren’t being more proactive about this considering their connections and all? Like, isn’t this a conversation the Choi’s should have already had with the Commissioner before you did?”

“As much as we like to think our allies share all their information with us, they don’t. I’m sure the Choi’s have made a lot of moves regarding this that we’re not aware of,” Chanyeol told him.

“Something doesn’t seem right,” Jongdae said. “What about if you make it my duty to figure out what the Choi’s are working with and what they’re not telling us?”

Chanyeol shook his head, and did seem a bit apologetic about it.

“We really do have this under control,” Chanyeol said.

“But I want to help,” Jongdae reiterated.

“Not on this.”

“Why not this?”

“Well, for starters, how are you going to investigate things when you can’t even leave the house?”

“I figured with the job I’d get to leave the house as well.”

“Is that the real reason you want a job?” Chanyeol asked, though it sounded more like an accusation.

“No, I want to help bring this all to an end so that there is no more lockdown for anyone. There’s something I can be doing.”

“I’ll let you know when there is something you can do.”

“I can do this,” Jongdae said with a firm tone. “Besides, I heard you let your advisor leave with one bodyguard. I have two. So there’s no reason to keep me on lockdown if you’re letting your advisor go out with one.”

“He was given that privilege because he is not a threat to himself or anyone else,” Chanyeol stated.

Jongdae couldn’t stop those words from piercing him, and he cleared his throat and took a deep breath to stay in control.

“Give me the opportunity to show that I can help you with this. I can take this on. The fact that you haven’t brought this to an end yet means you need help. If at any point you feel that I am not working up to your standards, then you can pull me off the job.”

Chanyeol shook his head slowly, and Jongdae was running out of moves to make.

“I can’t let you do this,” Chanyeol said. “I’m sorry, but it’s too risky. Why don’t you just focus on yourself for the time being? You’ve just been to the hospital recently so maybe you need to take it easy.”

Jongdae had to break his strong persona at that point, just to roll his eyes and snort to himself.

“I had a feeling you’d be this obtuse about it,” Jongdae said standing up. “Thank you for your time,” he said with a bow.

“I’m not being obtuse,” Chanyeol said, standing up as well, “I just… I know you probably won’t believe this, but I really do want you to get better. Hearing about everything that’s been going on with you has had me worried.”

“If you wanted me to get better, then you would let me do this so I can have something to do to get my mind off things. Don’t act like you’re concerned about me or my safety. I’m technically part of your family now, so let me help.”

“Especially because you’re technically part of my family now, I am concerned about you and your safety. If something happens to you or you do something reckless again, it’s going to fall on me now, and my family is the one that’s going to suffer the repercussions. So, I’m sorry that I’m not giving you the answer you want, but it’s for the good of everyone involved. Including yours.”

Jongdae had only one card left to play, and he looked toward Yixing and then at Junmyeon, then he looked back at Chanyeol.

“I would like the advisors to have a say in this decision.”

“I make the ultimate decision.”

“We have advisors for a reason. We should hear what they have to say.”

“Technically, there’s only one real advisor in this room,” Chanyeol said, finding a card of his own to play, and Jongdae didn’t stroke his ego for it, but he did mentally give him credit for it and take note.

“I would like to hear what he has to say then,” Jongdae stated, standing his ground even though he knew that if this was a game of chess, Chanyeol successfully had him in check.

Chanyeol debated this for a moment then nodded toward Junmyeon.

“I believe Yixing is still an advisor in training,” Junmyeon said. “And he has a special insight into the situation. I do think he should offer his opinion. I would like to hear it.”

Chanyeol seemed a bit annoyed by this, but motioned to Yixing to say his piece.

“Jongdae is capable of taking on this job,” Yixing said. “On our side of things, he offers great suggestions and is very invested in helping to bring this all to an end. He is capable and your concern for his mental health, while warranted, can be eased. He’s been improving greatly.”

“He hasn’t improved enough to carry again,” Chanyeol pointed out, “Nor to be left alone.”

“That will come soon,” Yixing said. “He’s getting closer, but in the meantime, his talents and intellect should not be wasted.”

Chanyeol looked toward Junmyeon, indicating it was his turn, and Jongdae gave Yixing a grateful look. He knew it wouldn’t make a difference, but it had been nice to hear under the circumstances.

“I appreciate that Jongdae has gotten to a better place,” Junmyeon said. “And that is heartening for all of us to hear. I think he can definitely be an asset, and I know his abilities are much needed, but I feel this particular job with the Choi family is a bit precarious and needs to be handled by more careful hands at the moment.”

“You weren’t even going to handle it if I hadn’t suggested it,” Jongdae pointed out, knowing that as Yixing had told him in his office, he certainly had nothing to lose now.

“And that was very helpful,” Junmyeon agreed, “I think it would be great to have you in this sort of role where you offer suggestions. Perhaps, like a strategist? With your extensive university experience, it would be a great asset.”

“I’m fine with that,” Chanyeol said.

“In order to do that, I would need to do research, which would still require me to leave the house,” Jongdae tried.

“You did it fine just now without leaving,” Chanyeol said, putting his piece back into the check position.

“I think you should let him investigate the Choi’s,” came the unsolicited advice of Chanyeol’s personal bodyguard, and Jongdae looked at the short man, unsure of what had just happened. “I’m sorry,” he said, probably noticing the reaction of everyone else in the room to his sudden interruption. “I know my opinion was not asked, but if I was still your subadvisor, that’s what I would have said.”

Jongdae exchanged looks with Yixing, who seemed confused by the outburst as well.

“And why is that your opinion?” Chanyeol asked him, looking surprised.

“Because of the young Kim’s current reputation, the other families won’t anticipate you putting him to use. You can use him as your dark horse. The Choi’s won’t see him coming, whether they have something to hide or not.”

“That is a good point,” Junmyeon nodded toward Chanyeol. “But it’s a matter of whether or not you want to take the risk with him not being able to carry and not being given a clean bill of health yet.”

“He has two bodyguards,” Chanyeol’s bodyguard said again, and Jongdae wondered why this small man was so bold in front of his boss. He supposed former assassins operated differently, but then again, he was sure Luhan would never have done this. “At that point he doesn’t need to carry anyway.”

“But he’s still…” Chanyeol seemed to consider his words.

“Not mentally stable?” Jongdae finished for him. “I can do this. Just give me this chance and you’ll see. I’m not going to carry. I’ll still be watched 24 hours. And I’ll be helping you in the process.”

Chanyeol looked away for a moment, seeming to think and collect his thoughts, then he nodded and looked back at him.

“I’ll give you this one chance,” he said, and Jongdae wanted to jump up and down in excitement, but instead he kept it contained in a slight upturn of his lips.

“Thank you,” Jongdae said, “One more thing. Sometimes I’ll probably need Yixing to come along. With two bodyguards, that should be okay, right?”

“No,” Chanyeol said.

“What if we take Minseok with us?” Jongdae tried.

“Minseok’s a bit busy these days,” Chanyeol stated.

“Then a third bodyguard.”

“How are you going to find out anything about the Choi family when you’re rolling five people deep?”

“It’ll get done. But obviously, I need resources for my task. Yixing gets to leave the house with a bodyguard too. Deal?”

Chanyeol put his hands on his hips and looked up for a moment then looked straight at Jongdae.

“If anything happens to anyone on your team, it’s on you.”

“Nothing will happen. Promise. Thank you.” Jongdae said, bowing again to him and then bowing toward his personal bodyguard, “And thank you.”

Jongdae left and could barely contain his excitement until they got in the car and he let it all out, giving Yixing the biggest hug, and giving hugs to his two bodyguards as well who were caught off guard by the act.

“That was amazing,” Yixing said. “I knew you would do it. Though never did I expect it to happen like that.”

Neither had Jongdae. Never would he have thought that his checkmate to Chanyeol would come in the form of his former friend’s assassin-turned-personal bodyguard.

***

When Jongdae got back to his house after a quick stop to pick up food, the first thing he did was call a meeting with his former bodyguard and Minseok. He let his former bodyguard know that he had been promoted once more, to the position of Yixing’s personal bodyguard. Then he explained to everyone his new assignment.

“Holy shit,” Minseok said, eyes wide and bouncing on his feet in Jongdae’s office. “You seriously pulled this off.”

“It was amazing,” Yixing said.

“So, what’s the plan?” Minseok asked.

“I don’t know,” Jongdae said. “Help me out here. I’m open to all suggestions.”

“When was the last time you talked to Minho?” Minseok tried.

“Not since high school,” Jongdae answered, back then only able to consider the young Choi an acquaintance at best. “You?”

“Not since he called to offer his condolences after Mina’s death,” Minseok said. “Before then, I don’t even remember.”

The young Choi had called Jongdae as well to offer condolences, but Jongdae hadn’t picked up his phone for anyone during that time.

“Was he always the type of person that would get into a bar fight and injure people?” Yixing asked.

“He’s always had some anger issues,” Minseok confirmed. “He’s not a bad guy. He was a little younger than me, but we ran in similar circles. It was the sports thing.”

“He wanted to be a soccer player,” Jongdae pointed out. “But like the rest of us, he gave up that dream to follow in his father’s footsteps.”

“More like his father didn’t give him the choice either,” Minseok clarified. “He’s been grooming him for a long time, which is I’m pretty sure where his anger issues stemmed from.”

“So, his father treated him kind of how Jongdae’s father treated him this past year?” Yixing asked.

“I would say yes,” Minseok said, thinking about it for a moment. “Now that you said that, it makes me think that’s where my uncle got the idea and who he was probably emulating.”

“That’s not good then,” Yixing said shaking his head.

“I can’t imagine the Commissioner General was thrilled to find out his daughter was dating him,” Jongdae pointed out.

“It’s a miracle he allowed it, honestly,” Minseok remarked. “If that had been my daughter, there’s no way I would have let that go down.”

“You can’t really stop things like that from happening,” Yixing pointed out.

“Yeah? Wait until I have a daughter and watch,” Minseok told him.

Yixing chuckled at him, and Jongdae just shook his head at his cousin.

“Maybe it’s his daughter that we need to find information out from,” Jongdae then said. “Although, she’d more than likely run and tell Minho I was asking questions.”

“You’d have to go about it in a casual situation,” Minseok said, pacing back and forth as he thought. “I could find out what club she hangs out at, or bar, or wherever she likes to hang out.”

“You’re busy doing other important things,” Yixing reminded him. “Besides, Jongdae already has a person that could probably find that out for him.”

Jongdae smiled and picked up his phone.

***

“I missed you!” Baekhyun said, giving Jongdae a huge hug when he saw him, and Jongdae couldn’t help but smile as he hugged the man back.

“I missed you too,” Jongdae told him.

“You look so good,” Baekhyun then said, taking a step back to take him in.

“I haven’t done this in a while,” Jongdae said, looking down at his fitted black jeans, sweater, and black leather jacket ensemble that Minseok and Yixing had helped him with.

“What? Going out? It’s like riding a bike,” Baekhyun told him.

“You look good too,” Jongdae complimented back, never having seen Baekhyun so dressed up, as he wore a black and gray jacket over a button down black shirt with a pair of black dress slacks. “Please tell me you didn’t steal these clothes or anything.”

“Nope, all mine,” he said with a laugh. “Clothes are cheaper than a car.”

Jongdae shook his head amused and then looked around at the street he had met him at.

“So, anything I should know?” Jongdae asked him. “I’ve never been to this place before.”

“I’ve never been there either,” Baekhyun told him. “This bar isn’t owned by the Choi’s so you don’t have to worry about that part of it. You arrive, make your entrance, settle in, get a feel for the place. I’m going to walk the few blocks down. When I get in, I’m not going to acknowledge you and you’re not going to acknowledge me. If we’re lucky, the people we need are already in there. If not, we give it an hour, then I’ll make my exit, you can make yours about fifteen minutes or so after.”

“Got it,” Jongdae said with a nod, though he very much felt like he didn’t have anything. He had no idea what he was going to say or do if he ran into Minho or his girlfriend tonight. His stomach kept flipping and he remembered to breathe.

Baekhyun assured him he’d be fine, and Jongdae thanked him for his confidence then got back inside the car. The bodyguards drove up the few blocks to park and then accompanied him as he walked into a tall building.

They took the elevator to the top floor where the bar was located, and when they stepped in, the bodyguards gave him space and sat at a table where they could best keep watch.

The atmosphere was upscale and modern, with the clientele mostly young and full of privilege. Patrons mingled with each other with fancy drinks as they talked above the popular pop song playing throughout the space.

It brought back a sense of nostalgia for Jongdae, though he had never been the biggest fan of places like this, preferring clubs or house parties. But his friends in medical school liked to socialize at bars like these, and Yoona very much tended to like the atmosphere and aesthetics of this sort of “it” spot.

He tried to keep the memories at bay as he walked toward the bar, attempting to not be obvious as he looked around at everyone to see if he saw Minho or the girl whose face he had tried to memorize based on the picture Minseok had found for him to study.

The bartender came over to attend to them, and Jongdae realized it was a whiskey bar, but settled for a beer, thinking if he went for the whiskey his bodyguards would try and take it away from him and cause a scene. He thanked the bartender for his beer and took a sip, looking around and already beginning to feel impatient.

Baekhyun walked in not long after, and though he didn’t acknowledge him, he couldn’t help but watch him as he stood on the other side of the bar and began working his charms on the bartender. He tried to focus on something else so he didn’t start to feel too inadequate or lame, knowing he didn’t quite have the skills to really be doing this the way Baekhyun so naturally did.

A friendly man who Jongdae guessed to probably be around his age began chatting to him about baseball, and Jongdae did his best to converse, not having kept up on the season. Luckily the man had enough drinks in him to think that what Jongdae said had merit, and he began to relax a bit more, thinking that it was nice to be out and socializing with new people again.

It was with ten minutes left of the time they had given themselves that Jongdae noticed Minho walk into the club with another man and two women. Then he noticed another man walk in behind them, and it wasn’t hard to guess that it was Minho’s bodyguard. He observed a bit of tension in the group, as one of the girls rolled her eyes and found the bar first to order herself a drink.

The other guy seemed to be trying to speak to Minho, but Minho kept ignoring him, and then Minho’s girlfriend said something to the other guy that seemed to anger Minho enough to grab her hand and say something sternly to her.

It was quite the scene for such a sophisticated club, so naturally other patrons began to notice, and it was the bodyguard that placed his hand on Minho’s shoulder and seemed to diffuse the situation enough to make the patrons lose interest.

They took a seat at an available table near the bar, not too far from where Jongdae stood, and Jongdae watched the other girl of their group grab her drink from the bartender and take a look around as she turned to walk to the table where the rest of her party sat.

Jongdae almost watched her, but then had the instinct to look away, just in case she scanned the crowd in his direction. When he felt enough moments had passed, he looked back in her direction to find her staring right at him. He almost looked away but decided to be bold and keep her gaze, and then she smiled at him, and he smiled back, and then she seemed to be more curious as she turned back around and walked to the table Minho sat at.

“You should get her number,” his new bar acquaintance said with a slap on his shoulder. “She was really into you.”

“I think she probably confused me with someone else,” Jongdae said, wanting to look at Baekhyun to see if he had caught that, but forcing himself not to per their earlier discussions on the plan.

“It’s kismet then,” the man said with a laugh.

And maybe it was, because moments after that, one of the servers came up to him and let him know that his presence had been requested at the table. He glanced toward the table to see Minho looking at him, then motioning with his hand for him to come over, offering him a friendly smile, which Jongdae had not thought capable of being on his face after the way he had entered.

Jongdae thanked the server and grabbed his beer, heading over to the table and giving a soft smile to Minho.

“Sit down,” Minho told him, motioning to the chair available between the guy friend and the girl friend, “Hey, how are you?”

Jongdae sat and nodded to him, setting down his beer on the table.

“I’m good, how are you?”

“You know, hanging in there,” Minho said. “I haven’t seen you in forever.”

“I was just thinking the same thing. You’ve gotten taller.”

Minho grinned and seemed to tilt his head apologetically before saying, “You haven’t.”

“You had to go there.”

Minho laughed and said that Jongdae had opened the door for it, which Jongdae acknowledged with a small shake of his head.

“I’m a little surprised to see you out,” Minho then commented.

“I needed to,” Jongdae said, not really wanting to talk about that in front of three people he didn’t know, though he was sure Minho had filled them in. “It gets a little suffocating staying in the house all day.” Jongdae glanced toward his guy friend, then the girl friend who seemed to be intrigued by every word he said all of a sudden.

“Sorry, I’m a terrible host,” Minho said. He introduced his friend first, then his girlfriend, Jin-ri, and then the girl who Jongdae imagined was the catalyst for his invitation to the table, “And this is Ju-hyun.”

“Very nice to meet you,” she said with a smile.

“Nice to meet you as well,” he said, giving her another small smile. “I saw you at the bar a moment ago.”

“Yes, I thought you might be who you were. I asked Minho for confirmation.”

“I’m glad she did,” Minho said, “Otherwise, we might not have gotten the chance to talk. Have you been here long?”

“About an hour,” Jongdae said, and loved that nothing he said so far was a lie. It made things easier to just work with the truth. “I had just been thinking of leaving a moment ago.”

“But the night is so young,” Minho said.

“I’m a little out of practice with all this,” Jongdae admitted.

“Understandable,” he said, nodding with sympathy and then glancing around. “I heard they had two bodyguards on you. Did you manage to ditch them?”

“No, they’re over there,” Jongdae nodded toward the two men that sat near the corner, eyeing the situation.

“At least they give you more breathing room than mine does,” Minho said, nodding toward where his bodyguard sat only one small table away.

“I think they’re aware that I need the breathing room,” Jongdae said, more as a joke.

“Don’t we all,” Minho commented, taking a sip of his drink.

“Well hopefully we’ll get our breathing room soon,” Jongdae ventured. “I can’t wait for this lockdown to finally be over.”

“Are the Park’s planning on letting your family regain your status once it is?” Minho then asked, rather boldly, and Jongdae hesitated a moment.

“I… don’t know what they’re planning,” he said, sounding as confused as he probably looked. “I assumed nothing much would change. We’re technically part of their family now.”

“That’s too bad,” Minho said. “I imagine it makes you upset.”

“I try not to think about it,” Jongdae answered. “I try not think about a lot of things these days.  The Park’s handle everything and I just wait for them to figure things out so that I can get my freedom back. If you could help them figure things out quicker, I and my sanity would appreciate it.”

“I think we’re all working hard on it,” Minho said. “What do you plan on doing then? In the long run? Are you going back to medical school?”

“You were in medical school?” Ju-hyun asked him. “That’s different for a high-family son.”

“Jongdae always liked to be different,” Minho said with what appeared to be a fond smile.

“I liked the idea of saving lives,” Jongdae said with a shrug.

“Ironic,” Minho’s male friend said as he snorted.

“I’m studying to be a veterinarian,” she said to him, and it was Jongdae’s turn to be surprised.

“That’s different for a socialite,” he said.

“Ju-hyun always liked to be different,” Minho’s girlfriend said, and Jongdae offered a small chuckle at the parallel.

“I also liked the idea of saving lives,” she continued, “But in my case, it was pets’ lives.”

“I take it you lost a pet as a young child,” Jongdae guessed.

“My pet bird,” she confirmed.

He wanted to say that his ex-girlfriend lost her pet rabbit as a child, but knew it would make things awkward, so he kept it back and instead said, “That must have been a special bird.”

“It was,” she said, biting her lip a little sadly, then laughing.

“How much longer do you have before you graduate?” He asked her.

“Another year. I would have been further along, but I took some time off to travel and find myself.”

He now wanted to say that his sister had done something similar, but that definitely would have been awkward, so he simply turned his attention back to his beer and took another sip.

“That’s good. I’ve been considering doing something similar,” he then said, the first lie he had told all night.

“Oh? Where do you have in mind to go?”

“I’m not sure yet. Maybe Europe or around Asia.”

“That’s what I did,” Ju-hyun said, switching her legs as she crossed her left over her right to lean toward him a bit better. “I started in Paris, did Barcelona, a bit of Germany and Austria, then went to Hong Kong and used it as my starting point for exploring the rest of the continent.”

“That sounds amazing,” Jongdae said, and really it did. Mina had done something similar, starting in Paris and working her way back to Asia. He remembered getting her updates and pictures, and she genuinely looked like she was having fun, but what he remembered most was when she had returned, she seemed different in a way, more mature, he had guessed when he had thought about it then. Getting to travel the world had changed her, and he wondered if it could have that same effect on him.

“I wish I could do something like that,” Minho said, returning Jongdae to the present conversation. “Sadly, I’ll never have the time to pull it off. You’re lucky to be free of your duties now.”

Jongdae nodded, going along with this sentiment to see where it took him.

“It does feel freeing. I’m certainly not going to miss it. I’m sure your father would give you some time off though if you needed it. Everyone deserves a vacation.”

“Not with the way things are now,” Minho said. “Not for a while I don’t think.”

“Maybe you can have him give that to you as your reward for helping to get all this taken care of. Maybe you can bring this all to an end yourself and show both the Park’s and your father up in one shot.”

“That would be nice,” Minho said, “But as of now, I’m just following orders. That’s what I do best.”

“You give them well too,” his girlfriend said, her tone a bit bitter, and she took a sip of her drink, as Minho threw her a glare.

“Please excuse her,” Minho then said looking back at Jongdae, “She’s had a long day.”

“Maybe we should leave you guys alone for a bit,” Ju-hyun said, uncrossing her legs to stand up. “Jongdae, have you ever seen a better view than this one? It’s my favorite in the city. Come join me?”

“Um, sure,” Jongdae said, grabbing his beer and standing up as well. He bowed to Minho and said, “It was good seeing you again. Maybe we’ll run into each other at another one of these places again.”

“I’ll look forward to it,” Minho said, standing up to bow to him as well, and extending his hand. Jongdae shook it, and he said goodbye to Minho’s girlfriend and friend before walking with Ju-hyun over to a more private table for two by the windows.

“This is an amazing view,” Jongdae commented as he took it in before taking a seat.

“I know a good view when I see one,” she said, staring at him with a smile and he tried to not blush under her gaze.

“So, are they going to be okay back there?” Jongdae said, curious about whatever had transpired between Minho and his girlfriend. “There was some major tension happening.”

Ju-hyun waved the question off and took another sip of her drink.

“Things have been very tense between them ever since this lockdown thing happened. It started with them fighting about her not leaving the house, and that fight led into another and then another. I have no idea what they’re fighting about today.”

“He’s right in his concern at least. It’s dangerous for us right now, which you seem to know.”

“I do know. Jin-ri complains to me all day about it. She hates all of this and just wants it to end already.”

“I’m with her on that,” Jongdae said, and the server came by to ask them if they needed new drinks.

“I’m good with mine,” Jongdae said.

“I’ll have another martini,” Ju-hyun said, then she smiled at Jongdae. “So, not a drinker?”

“I’ve had to cut down a bit,” he said, and hoped she didn’t ask for an explanation.

“I heard you tried to kill the son of the elder Wu.”

“Did Jin-ri complain to you about that as well?”

Ju-hyun laughed and shook her head.

“No, but when she told me the story, she did stress how inconvenient it made things for Minho, which in turn means her.”

“My apologies. I had no intentions of making things inconvenient for anyone outside of the Wu family,” he said, amazed at himself for being able to make light of it now. “And may I ask how it was inconvenient for Minho?”

She sighed and appeared to be thinking about something, then shook her head.

“I can’t remember now,” she waved off. “But I guess probably in the same way it would have made it inconvenient for the other families. That’s so funny that you’re like part of the Park’s now. I ran into the son of the Park family not too long ago.”

“Really? Was it here?”

“No. It was at a boring social event. He was the most interesting person there so I just started talking to him and telling him things I probably shouldn’t have been telling him, sort of like how you’re the most interesting person here and I’m telling you things I probably shouldn’t be telling you.”

“At least you’re consistent?”

Ju-hyun laughed and bit her bottom lip as she looked at him.

“I’m a problem,” Ju-hyun said. “Minho’s always telling Jin-ri to dump me as a friend. He thinks I’m just using her to get closer to the high families so I can find a high family son of my own.”

“And are you?”

“Maybe, but I’m certainly not looking for a relationship. Just a casual thing. I’m busy, and I don’t have time to deal with that kind of drama,” she said, nodding back toward the table they had left.  “I admit to being very attracted to the sons of high families. There’s something about all of you that does it for me. This is the part where you tell me that you’re single and also looking for a casual thing.”

Jongdae gave her a small chuckle and had to take a sip of his beer to keep from turning shy in front of her. This was definitely not his area of expertise. He could only imagine that Chanyeol ate this all up and probably ended up hooking up with her that night.

“I am single,” he said, clearing his throat, amused as he put his beer back down on the table. “However, I’m not really into casual things.”

“You really aren’t like all the others,” she said, leaning forward a bit more as she spoke with him. “Then what are you into?”

“I’m usually a serious relationship kind of guy.”

“Usually?”

“My last relationship ended about a year ago.”

“And you haven’t found a rebound yet?”

“I haven’t really been looking for one,” he admitted.

“Well tonight’s your lucky night, isn’t it? A rebound is practically what happens when you mix casual with a relationship,” she said with a smirk and a small wag of her finger.

“Is it?” Jongdae said raising his eyebrows. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone refer to it in that way.”

“Well other people just lack imagination, don’t they?”

He chuckled at that and then decided to be bold enough to ask, “Just how many high family sons do you have collected on your bedpost?”

“Only two. You could be lucky number three. I think they call that a sign,” she said, raising her eyebrows at him.

He chuckled again and shook his head at her.

“You’re a little crazy, you know that right?” He asked.

“I heard you were too so that’s another sign.”

“Who were the two?”

“Kang, then Park. Kang was better.”

Jongdae snorted and had to take a moment to make sure he didn’t die of laughter all of a sudden.

“I’m an honest person,” she said, unapologetically as she took another sip of her drink. “Kang seemed really into me. Park seemed more into himself.”

Jongdae had to cover his mouth and closed his eyes to keep his loud laugh from escaping.

“That’s amazing,” Jongdae finally said once he was able to regain control of his face. “Well, I don’t think I can compete when you’ve had the best of both worlds.” He really had tried to say it with a straight face but a laugh came out at the end of it, which worked fine because Ju-hyun laughed as well, this time covering her mouth to try and contain her own outburst.

“Seriously though,” she said, once she had stopped laughing. “I think we would be fun together.”

“Maybe, but I don’t like the idea of being collected.”

“Hm, that’s a tough one. I can’t change my past, and I don’t think you should hold it against me.  How about we agree to turning a new leaf right now? I no longer collect high family sons and you no longer try and kill high family sons. Everything before this moment is the old, and today we go forward with the new. Deal?”

“I like the idea of leaving behind the old,” he admitted.

“Me too. To be honest, when I started collecting high family sons, I didn’t think I’d encounter one like you. If I had known you were like this, I wouldn’t have bothered with all the rest.”

“I didn’t used to be like this,” Jongdae said. “I probably fit in line with them a bit more if you had met me a couple of years ago. But, I will give you major points for that really good pickup line.”

“Thank you,” she said, “I really do mean it.”

“I probably should be flattered that you’re even trying to collect me,” Jongdae said, and she interrupted him.

“Was trying to collect you. I turned a new leaf remember?”

“Right,” he said, with an amused nod, “But, just the same, our family lost our high family status, so you’re sort of wasting your time right now.”

“How so? I’m not collecting you, remember? And this is even better. I only collect high family sons, so you don’t count.”

“I thought you used to?” He threw back at her.

“That was before you made me realize that you were no longer one. So now it’s a moot point. I’m not collecting you since I only collect high family sons. I can be your rebound and now you don’t have an excuse to use against me.”

Jongdae chuckled at her logic and shook his head, unsure of what to make of her.

“I’ll think about it,” he finally told her, and she smiled and made him take down her number.

“Don’t think too hard,” she said, and she finished her drink and grabbed her clutch. “It looks like Jin-ri needs me, so I’m going to free her from dealing with her boyfriend the rest of her night. These are problems our rebound thing won’t have,” she told him as she stood up. “You better call me.”

“And if I don’t?” Jongdae asked as he stood up as well out of respect.

“Then I’ll have to drown my sorrows in the arms of another high family son,” she said dramatically. “Save me from that horrible fate.”

Jongdae chuckled then gave her a small smile and nod.

“It was nice meeting you, Ju-hyun.”

“The pleasure was all mine, Jongdae.”

He watched her leave then stood by the window, staring out at the city skyline and trying to not let all the different thoughts running through his mind consume him all at once. He got a text from Baekhyun about twenty-five minutes later, telling him where to meet him.

***

“First of all,” Baekhyun said, as he mixed the rice in his bowl all around with his chopsticks, “Whatever you do, don’t hook up with Ju-hyun.”

“I figured that one out all on my own,” Jongdae said, turning the meat on the grill, wishing it would cook quicker. He was starving. “She collects high family sons.”

“She collects information,” Baekhyun said. “And apparently, she does this on Minho’s behalf.”

“Wait, the bartender told you this? How would he know that?”

“Because Minho meets with Ju-hyun at the bar alone to discuss things. The bartender couldn’t decide if they were meetings or dates, but apparently, Minho does all his business meetings there with various businessmen and cops, so he’s assuming they’re meeting as well.”

“Wait, cops? So, they have contacts in the force and they haven’t offered up any of that information to the Park’s? Wait, they have more than one contact? You said, cops, plural.”

“The bartender said cops. So I’m assuming yes.”

“Wait,” Jongdae said, his mind running in circles. “She meets with Minho and works on his behalf and the bartender thinks they might actually be dates? She told me that Minho doesn’t want her to be friends with his girlfriend because she thinks she’s just using her.”

“Probably to make you more sympathetic to her,” Baekhyun pointed out, then grabbed a piece of beef from the grill.

Jongdae grabbed one as well and ate it, his stomach grateful.

“Damn,” Jongdae said, “I wonder if everything she told me was tailored to play at my emotions. Is she really studying to be a veterinarian?”

“That part is true,” Baekhyun confirmed. “The bartender said when she gets really drunk, she starts telling people about how she’s still upset that she couldn’t save her dead bird. She even cried on some random guy’s shoulder about it for a good five minutes.”

“She must have really loved that bird,” Jongdae remarked, grateful when the server had brought them more meat to grill since he and Baekhyun had devoured all they had already cooked. “So, she probably lied about Chanyeol being bad in bed because she probably figured I wasn’t a fan of his at the moment.”

“That probably wasn’t a lie either,” Baekhyun said with a grin.

“Did the bartender tell you that too?”

“No, but let’s pretend it wasn’t a lie so we can make fun of him for it anyway,” Baekhyun stated, and Jongdae chuckled and agreed.

“So, if she collects information for Minho,” Jongdae said, thinking through it, “Then that means she was trying to find out something from the young Kang first.”

“Not necessarily,” Baekhyun pointed out. “She didn’t know she was going to run into you tonight. She didn’t know she was going to run into Chanyeol the night she ran into him. I’m curious to know who she’s been around that she didn’t feel she needed to get information from.”

“I think you should check that out,” Jongdae said nodding. “In the meantime, I know that the Park’s would have run a background check on Ju-hyun after Chanyeol hooked up with her. It’s protocol. Yixing meets with Junmyeon at least once a week, so I’m going to have him see if he can get a copy of that and see what came up.”

“You don’t think anything would have stuck out at them already?” Baekhyun asked, before telling the meat to grill faster as he turned it.

“Maybe there’s something they found out that’s so subtle they didn’t think to connect it to anything,” Jongdae reasoned. “I don’t know, I just feel I should take a look.”

“It doesn’t hurt to look again,” Baekhyun agreed, stuffing his mouth with pork belly.

“I don’t think I said anything that can really be used by Minho,” Jongdae said, trying to think back through their conversation. “I wish I knew what Chanyeol told her.”

“I can try and find out,” Baekhyun said.

“Really? Do I want to know how you’d go about that?”

Baekhyun laughed and didn’t answer, he just filled his mouth with more pork belly, looking like a child as he tilted his head to drop as much possible in with his chopsticks.

Jongdae shook his head in amusement and focused on eating more of his meal, the two in good spirits as they parted ways that night, ready to take on their new tasks.

As he crawled into bed that night and lay on his side, hugging his comforter close to him, he had the thought that he did miss having the contact of a companion beside him. It had been so long, and the feelings and urges that he had suppressed for the past year, seemed to have been reawakened by the night.

He found that he missed the comfort of Yoona and couldn’t help but parallel his former relationship with the one he had witnessed tonight. Fighting in public would never have been their style. When they used to have arguments, they were usually over academic things, or ridiculous things like when they disagreed on whether a movie they had watched had been good or not. They were intellectual arguments that never ended in real disagreements, just acceptance of the other’s opinion. There had never been a palpable tension between them, as far as he could remember, but now after what Yoona had told him about Mina, it made him wonder if he just hadn’t noticed that as well.

He wanted to call her and ask, or more like, he wanted to call her and hear her voice. He still had her number on his phone, and he pulled it up and looked at it, the photo of her smiling and blowing him a kiss greeting him when he did. She had moved on. She was probably in her boyfriend’s arms, cradled and warm, being loved by someone who would never lead her down the turmoil of a high family rabbit hole.

He slid his phone back under the pillow beside him and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly, and repeating this as much as he needed to before he finally fell asleep.


	9. (Two Moons)

“She deserves an award for that performance,” Kyungsoo said as he listened to Baekhyun, eating his shrimp chips as if he was watching a movie while he sat on the couch facing his friend. “She played us so well with her act of being a bored socialite and not knowing who Chanyeol was.”

“And the fact that she used a different strategy for Jongdae deserves an award too,” Baekhyun agreed, eating a rice cake he had picked up along with the other snacks they had laid out on the coffee table for breakfast. He stretched his leg out and tucked it under Kyungsoo’s to try and warm up his foot better.

“Why didn’t I sense that?” Kyungsoo then asked, annoyed with himself. “I’m trained to sense things that are out of the ordinary.”

“Because you were too busy being jealous that night.”

“I was not jealous that night. We were there for business and he turned it into pleasure with a spy. That must have been the reason I was so opposed to it. It was my instinct. I knew deep down inside something was off about her.”

Baekhyun gave Kyungsoo a look, and Kyungsoo tried to keep his steady stare back at him, but then he let out a frustrated noise instead.

“Okay, fine. I was jealous and I sensed nothing wrong, which makes this worse. Now I’m his bodyguard, and how am I going to protect him if I can’t even pick out a spy? I’m too out of practice.”

“You’re not out of practice. Anyway, I watched her interact with Jongdae and she had him in the palm of her hand for most of it. She just didn’t anticipate that Jongdae was a little different than what she’s used to with high families.”

“If the bartender hadn’t told you she was working for Minho, would you have thought she was trying to play us?”

“Well,” Baekhyun drew out the word and looked up in thought. “Not really, but that’s because she keeps spilling a lot of information that she shouldn’t be. That’s the part of her strategy I don’t understand.”

“That’s exactly why I didn’t think anything of it,” Kyungsoo pointed out, though the hint of frustration was still in his tone. “She told us about the connection between the Choi’s and the Commissioner General. Why would she do that?”

“It doesn’t make sense,” Baekhyun agreed. “What did you guys give her in return?”

“Just that we wanted to speak to the Commissioner General. We didn’t really say anything else.”

“This is weird,” Baekhyun said, looking disturbed as he finished his rice cake. “Unless…”

“Unless what?” Kyungsoo asked, reaching toward the coffee table to grab his coffee.

“Oh,” Baekhyun said, his small eyes looking like they were scanning through a million thoughts at once, “Oh that’s not good.”

“What’s not good?” Kyungsoo asked.

“Something I learned in my Academy training,” Baekhyun said. “Well my second-hand Academy training from the herbal medicine shopkeeper.”

“I know what you meant, get to the point,” Kyungsoo said, motioning to Baekhyun with his hand to hurry.

“Sometimes it’s not what people say,” Baekhyun said. “It’s what they don’t say.”

Kyungsoo closed his eyes, knowing this too well from his own second-hand Academy training from his mentor.

“Shit,” Kyungsoo said, letting out a breath and focusing back on his friend. “She wasn’t trying to trade information.”

“She was scouting,” Baekhyun confirmed. “Whatever she’s reporting back to him, it’s not anything we could have had any control over.”

“This is not good. This is dangerous.”

“Especially since we don’t know why he has her doing that.”

“Okay,” Kyungsoo said, trying to think through it. “In a perfect world, he’s just keeping an eye on his allies, making sure the Choi’s are not being left out of anything.”

“In the world we actually live in,” Baekhyun then said, “He needs to know these things for a reason. He probably has a specific goal in mind.”

“A goal that involves her revealing to us that the Choi’s and the Commissioner General are connected?”

“That part still doesn’t make sense. Unless she wanted to see our reactions to that information and what we did with it.”

“What Chanyeol did with it was go straight to the elder Choi and tell him that we were aware of it, which the elder Choi did not take well,” Kyungsoo said. “He demanded to know how he had found out and then said that it was a personal matter involving his son and the Commissioner General’s daughter. Oh, and he also told Junmyeon that the elder Choi said the Commissioner General had already been trying to help matters, but that his hands were a bit tied at the moment, meaning that the Commissioner General was playing it really cool with Chanyeol at the gala and downplaying how involved he already was. Which is only strange because we all have a common goal, so why play it off like you weren’t helping when you already were?”

“That’s a good point,” Baekhyun said, “Once again, nothing about any of this adds up,” he said, reaching to grab his tea from the table to join Kyungsoo in drinking instead of eating. “Ju-hyun had to know that there would be repercussions for sharing that information. She works for the younger Choi, but maybe the elder Choi isn’t aware of whatever his son is up to.”

“That could be,” Kyungsoo said. “That’s how Jongdae operates, right?”

“Yeah, but Jongdae’s a bit of a loose cannon. The younger Choi has a reputation for doing what his father tells him to do.”

“Well the only two options are that this is a rogue operation on the younger Choi’s part or the elder Choi orchestrated this to have Chanyeol find out and confront him with the information, but that makes no sense at all.”

“My head hurts,” Baekhyun said, rubbing the side of his head.

Kyungsoo agreed, focusing on his coffee for a moment.

The two sat in silence for a bit, both working through the thoughts in their mind, and then after a long moment, without any prodding from the other, they both looked up and said the same thing.

“This feels like a distraction.”

The two friends blinked, realization dawning on them, then once again said the same thing.

“Shit.”

Then Kyungsoo said, “Damn it. We have no contact with the Kim insider right now. They probably know that and are mobilizing something while we’re in the dark.”

“And the fact that the Choi’s are wanting to distract us from that while they have a plural amount of cops operating in the force on their behalf…”

“But why?” Kyungsoo asked, maybe out of frustration for this becoming more of an ordeal than he had hoped. “What are the Choi’s hoping to get out of all of this if they’re one of the families being targeted?”

“They’re not one of the families being targeted if they have an in with the Commissioner General,” Baekhyun pointed out. “Because of his daughter’s involvement, he may have promised them leniency and to not be hit as hard in exchange for their help with this operation. And if that’s true, then when this is all said and done, the Choi family would be the only high family left standing.”

“Byun Baekhyun,” Kyungsoo said, sitting more upright on the sofa as he looked at his friend, “You. Are. Brilliant.”

“Ah,” Baekhyun said with a soft blush and a self-conscious laugh, but then he said, “So they’ve successfully distracted us, and with whatever Ju-hyun reported back to Minho last night, we probably don’t have much time.”

“You need Jongdae to report all of this to Chanyeol. They need to discuss this and get security squared away. I know the goal is for us to end all of this, but we’re flying blind, so we have to prepare for an attack first.”

Baekhyun made a sort of hissing sound, “This is really not good. In all the high family research I’ve been doing, it doesn’t seem like the Park’s are used to being on the defensive this much. They tend to go into battle already having won. That’s how they took the Lee’s down so brutally.”

“And the Choi’s probably learned from that,” Kyungsoo pointed out. “They wouldn’t pull a stunt like this unless they thought they had a good chance of succeeding. And for them to be that cocky about it, they had to have a secret weapon. Having an in with the Commissioner General is as good of a secret weapon as you can get. In that sense, they could utilize the police force for what they needed. Like having the cops work on their behalf to weaken the Parks’ and Kim’s by trying to assassinate their leaders.”

Baekhyun nodded and followed this train of thought, saying, “And what if the Choi’s crossed enemy lines to convince the Sons to go after the Kim’s to break them down even further? I’m willing to bet that what Ju-hyun is reporting back to Minho is how broken down the Park’s and Kim’s actually are.”

Kyungsoo suddenly realized that that was exactly what she had been reporting back.

“Okay,” Kyungsoo said taking a moment to reorganize his thoughts. “We didn’t tell her anything, but in the time she was with us, I did a shitty job of being a bodyguard, and I didn’t even accompany them up to the room.”

“Your jealousy really did make you a shitty bodyguard.”

“Shut up.”

“Well in the time she was with Jongdae, he was left pretty alone and his bodyguards were well away from him. Also, he didn’t bring his advisor with him, so if anything, Minho certainly would think by now that the Parks’ and the Kim’s are under protected.”

“Which they could interpret as being in disarray,” Kyungsoo said. “At least, I hope. Because that would mean they’re underestimating both Chanyeol and Jongdae.”

“Underestimating Chanyeol is pure ego on their part,” Baekhyun pointed out. “Underestimating Jongdae is expected, and that’s where we go into battle winning.”

“I anticipated that,” Kyungsoo said, “Which is why I broke protocol to suggest it during their meeting.”

“Still my favorite story you ever told me,” Baekhyun said with a big grin. “Tell me again about how Chanyeol sternly told you after to not ever do that again.”

“It wasn’t stern,” Kyungsoo said, not liking the memory no matter how much it amused Baekhyun.

After Jongdae and his team had left the office, Chanyeol had turned to Kyungsoo looking annoyed that he even had to address the issue.

“You can’t do that,” Chanyeol had said to him, and maybe the tone had been stern. “You’re not a subadvisor anymore. You’re a bodyguard. Your only job is to stand there and make sure no one tries to kill me during a meeting.”

“I apologize,” Kyungsoo had said, bowing humbly. “I forgot my place.”

“It’s okay,” Chanyeol had then said, his tone softening. “It’s my fault. I keep making this all confusing with moving you around the family.”

“It won’t happen again,” Kyungsoo had assured him.

“Just not during the meetings,” Chanyeol had said, motioning with his hand as if he wanted him to understand. “After the meetings, when the other party is gone, please do share your thoughts. I value them. And Junmyeon does too. Right?”

Junmyeon had nodded, seeming more amused than anything else, and Kyungsoo had agreed to wait until the appropriate time to share his thoughts.

“Okay, it was a little stern,” Kyungsoo deferred to Baekhyun, “But I only did it because I saw the opportunity passing. Chanyeol really was not going to let Jongdae do this, and all I kept thinking was how much you missed him and would love to work on something like this with him. So really, once again, it’s because of you I got in trouble.”

“Wait, I’ve never gotten you in trouble before,” Baekhyun said, looking as if he suddenly had to think about whether that was true or not.

“Every day with you feels like I’m in trouble,” Kyungsoo lamented, and he kicked away Baekhyun’s foot as he got up from the couch.

“Every day with me is a gift,” Baekhyun said, tucking his feet under his own legs now and reaching for his phone that he had set down on the table. “I’ll call Jongdae now. Are you headed to your boyfriend’s?”

“He’s not my boyfriend,” Kyungsoo said giving him a soft glare, and Baekhyun laughed at him. “We’re taking things slow.”

“Are you headed to your person-you’re-taking-things-slow-with’s?”

“I hate you,” Kyungsoo said, but he answered anyway, “Yes, after I shower.”

“Aw, how cute. Do you think he’s showering for you as well, making sure he’s wearing a nice shirt, and doing his hair just the way you like, and…”

Kyungsoo threw a napkin at him to make him shut up and left to go shower as Baekhyun’s loud laugh filled the apartment.


	10. (Waning Crescent)

During breakfast, Chanyeol had decided to surprise Taemin and the rest of his family with an idea that had crossed his mind.

“Hey,” he said to his son who was once again rolling a car around his bowl of rice. “What do you think about us doing a sleepover in your room tonight?”

Each night since getting his own room, Chanyeol had read to his son and tucked him in per tradition, only to find him sneaking into his room and crawling into his bed to sleep at night. He realized that the new space may have scared him a bit or maybe Taemin hadn’t fully understood the concept, either way, he had been thinking about a solution and he decided a sleepover might help.

“A sleepover?” Taemin asked, hopeful. “In my room?”

“Yeah. I can come over with my blanket and pillow, and I bet grandma might join us, and maybe Jongin.”

“Jongin sleep in my room?”

“Only tonight for the sleepover,” Chanyeol reminded him. “Do you want to?”

“Yes!” The little boy said, doing an excited wiggle in his chair. “Grandma, you come to my sleepover in my room?”

“I would love to,” she said, her smile so bright that Chanyeol felt he had finally done a good thing for once when it came to this situation.

“Grandpa? You too?”

“I’m still a little too unwell,” Chanyeol’s father said, “But I want to hear all about it.”

“Jongin?”

“I’ll be there,” Jongin said already laughing. “I’ll wear my special pajamas for you.”

“I wear special too.”

“We’ll be like twins,” Jongin exclaimed.

“Daddy, you wear special too?”

“I’ll see what special pajamas I can find,” Chanyeol said, not even sure what Jongin had meant by that.

After breakfast was over, his mother followed him out of the dining room, stopping him before he went about his day.

“I don’t know what’s gotten into you,” she said, “But I like seeing this side of you again.”

“Again?” Chanyeol asked.

“You seem happy. In a way you haven’t been since you’ve been back.”

“I feel we’re making good progress with everything,” Chanyeol said by way of explanation, and his mother smiled and gave him a hug before telling him and Jongin to have a good day.

Jongin waited until they were closer to the office and well out of his mother’s earshot to remark about the moment.

“You know you’re going to have to tell her, right?”

“Why?” Chanyeol asked his cousin. “It’s better if she doesn’t know.”

“People are going to start to notice. You’re not very good at hiding it.”

“You only notice it because you’re aware of it. I happen to be very good at hiding it.”

Jongin snorted and gave him an amused side glance that indicated he thought otherwise.

“Whatever,” Chanyeol said. “There’s no need to tell anyone anything.”

Jongin said nothing more and they entered the office, both Junmyeon and D.O. already there waiting for them.

“Good morning,” they both said, with small bows and Chanyeol bowed back in greeting and smiled at D.O., not sure why he was smiling, but not able to stop himself from doing so just the same.

D.O. appeared to have the same problem, which was comforting.

“You have meetings today with the elder Kang, the elder Choi, and two investors of the new hotel who probably want to make sure things are still on schedule.”

“Can’t we just tell them they’re still on schedule?” Chanyeol asked knowing the answer, and looked mildly annoyed when Junmyeon shook his head.

“What does the elder Choi want?” Jongin asked. “Has Jongdae reported back on him? Minseok said he went to investigate things last night.”

“He hasn’t reported anything yet,” Junmyeon said, “And I’m not sure what the elder Choi wants considering he’s not happy with us at the moment.”

“Hopefully he has news on how to end all this,” Chanyeol said. “Still nothing from the Kim police contact?”

“Nothing,” Jongin said, and then he checked his phone and said, “Oh, wait, just got a text from Minseok saying he’s going to try and get in contact with their guy again.”

“Perfect timing,” Chanyeol said and he looked toward Kyungsoo who sat attentive, listening to everyone as if he was taking in as much information as possible and trying to learn.

Chanyeol found it so endearing and wanted to kiss him for it.

Then Junmyeon’s phone alerted him, and Junmyeon read the message and said, “Interesting. Yixing wants to know if he can get a copy of the background check for Seo Ju-hyun.”

“Okay,” Jongin said, “It’s obvious Jongdae found something out last night and just filled everyone in.”

“Or he’s onto something at the very least,” Junmyeon nodded, then asked Chanyeol. “Do you want me to go ahead and release that information to him?”

“I guess,” Chanyeol said, and he looked at D.O., who nodded back at him and smiled, which made him smile. “Yeah, I mean, he’s in charge of figuring that out, right? Give it to him.”

Junmyeon typed a text and said, “I wonder what they’re looking for that we wouldn’t have already noticed.”

“See, you guys are being obvious about this,” Jongin said, holding his hand out to D.O. “You keep smiling at each other like some teenage crush. You really think no one’s going to notice?”

“We’re only able to act like this because you two already know,” Chanyeol defended. “We don’t act like this around other people, and since we don’t get to, you’ll have to put up with it because this is one of the few times we can be like this.”

“You’re not as stealth about this as you think you are,” Jongin warned him.

“Junmyeon,” Chanyeol said, waving Jongin off, “Taemin is having a sleepover tonight. You should ask him if you’re invited.”

“A sleepover?” Junmyeon asked with a smile. “That sounds fun. I had made plans for the evening, but I’ll be happy to cancel them for the baby Park.”

“Do these plans involve our favorite rainbow-haired friend?” Chanyeol said, his eyebrow raising in jest.

“His hair is gray now,” Junmyeon said, and Jongin laughed and clapped simultaneously. “And again, you don’t care about him anymore so stop asking me about him.”

“I just want to know how far you’ve gotten with him.”

“It’s none of your business.”

“It is. I believe in looking out for the wellbeing of my advisor,” Chanyeol reasoned.

“They’ve been hooking up quite a bit,” Jongin spilled.

“Traitor,” Junmyeon said, cutting his eyes to Jongin.

“How did you not tell me this?” Chanyeol said, slamming his hand on the desk as he laughed.  “What happened to him not being your type? Now he’s adult enough for you?”

“So, I take it this is the ‘almost hooking up’ person you wouldn’t tell me about before?” D.O. then interjected, and both Jongin and Junmyeon said “Ooooh” as they covered their mouths.

“You’re keeping relationship secrets from your new boyfriend?” Jongin asked with an instigator smirk.

“No, that’s not…” Chanyeol’s mind didn’t suddenly formulate words, and he looked at D.O., who also had an amused smirk playing on his lips. “All I said was that it was a long story, which it is. I would have told him later. It’s not even a big deal. Also, it wasn’t a relationship, so it doesn’t count as relationship secrets.”

Chanyeol was going to kill Jongin. Again.

“It was a seven-night stand,” Jongin pointed out. “I think that falls under some sort of relationship status.”

“What would you know?” Chanyeol threw back at him, visibly annoyed by this sudden turn in conversation. “You’ve been dating the same person since sixth grade.”

“That qualifies him quite well to determine a relationship status,” Junmyeon threw out, and Jongin gave him a thumbs-up.

“So, you had a thing with him?” D.O. asked.

“No,” Chanyeol said waving his hands rapidly in defense. “He was just a stress reliever. Nothing else.”

“A seven-night stress reliever,” Jongin pointed out to D.O.

“He was meaningless. I mean he’s just a sophomore in college,” Chanyeol threw out and D.O. looked so shocked that Chanyeol wished he hadn’t shared that as the point he was trying to make. “Totally not relationship material,” Chanyeol tried to explain.

D.O. looked from Chanyeol to Junmyeon and asked, “You’re having a thing with a sophomore in college?”

“You’d have to meet him to understand,” Junmyeon said.

“That’s true,” Jongin said to D.O., “He has a sort of way about him.”

“Was that your longest relationship?” D.O. asked Chanyeol.

“What? No. It wasn’t a relationship.”

“How long was your longest relationship?”

“I don’t do relationships. Can we go back to talking about the business of the day? Aren’t there some hotel plans or something I have to look at?”

“Oh, now you want to look at plans?” Junmyeon snorted.

“If you hang in there another couple weeks or so,” Jongin said to D.O., “You may end up holding the record.”

“That should be possible,” D.O. said, with a glint of mischief in his eyes, “Since we’re taking things very slow.”

“You agreed to go very slow?” Jongin asked Chanyeol. “He has got you so whipped.”

“Okay, hotel plans, let’s look at them, now,” Chanyeol said, knowing his face had transitioned into a bright red color.

And now it was Chanyeol’s turn to have his phone light up as an unknown number flashed on his screen.

“Um, someone from this phone number is trying to call me,” Chanyeol said, showing it to Junmyeon.

Junmyeon searched the number on his tablet and looked at Chanyeol intrigued.

“Seo Ju-hyun,” Junmyeon told him.

“How did she get my number? I didn’t give it to her.”

“She has friends in high places,” Junmyeon reasoned. “It probably wasn’t hard for her to get it.”

“Why would she be calling me?”

“Maybe she’s ready to be a two-night stand,” Jongin teased.

“Then you shouldn’t answer it,” D.O. said, and Chanyeol noticed that he did not say it in a teasing way.

Once again Jongin and Junmyeon expressed their “Ohhhhh’s,” and Chanyeol gave them both glares.

“But what if this is related to whatever Jongdae found out?” Chanyeol asked. “Did you send Yixing the background check yet?”

“I did,” Junmyeon said. “But that seems like a rather quick turnaround time for them to review it and signal her to call. Also, why would they signal her to call?”

It did seem like more of a coincidence, and Chanyeol let the call go to voicemail. When his voicemail notification popped up, he put his phone on speaker and let the message play for everyone in the office.

“Hey, Chanyeol,” Ju-hyun’s voice came on, “I don’t know if you remember me, but this is Seo Ju-hyun. We met at my mother’s utterly fascinating museum gala the other night. I just wanted to let you know that I had a lot of fun with you, and I was wondering if you wanted to go get a drink sometime. Let me know.”

“She’s definitely ready to be a two-night stand,” Jongin said.

“Well that’s not going to happen,” Chanyeol made sure to say immediately.

“I don’t like this,” Junmyeon said. “Now that the Kim’s want to review her file, it has me thinking that she’s not to be trusted at all. Don’t call her back until we find out more.”

“I wasn’t going to call her back at all,” Chanyeol stated.

“Well, we may need you to,” Jongin said, “If it could get us more information.”

“You gave that job to the young Kim,” D.O. reminded them. “Chanyeol doesn’t need to call her back ever again.”

“Wow,” Junmyeon said. “Ever again.”

“This is so intense,” Jongin remarked back to Junmyeon, giggling a bit.

“Okay, isn’t it almost time for the Kang meeting?” Chanyeol said, but deep down inside, D.O.’s jealousy was doing things to him and he really just wanted his advisor and cousin to leave so he could act upon it.

“Yep, let’s prep you for that,” Junmyeon said, shaking his head amused as he focused on getting back into work-mode.

“I’m going to get some things done while I wait for Minseok to report back,” Jongin said, getting up. “Let me know if anything comes up.”

Chanyeol told him he would and then tried to focus on whatever Junmyeon was telling him about his upcoming meeting.

***

While the Kang meeting was more of a check-in to see how things stood, the meeting with the elder Choi felt more like a test, or maybe it was just Chanyeol being suddenly suspicious of the Choi’s motives.

The elder Choi walked into the office, and to Chanyeol’s surprise, he had brought his son with him.

“It’s been awhile since I’ve seen you,” Chanyeol remarked to Minho. “You look well.”

“Same to you,” Minho said, bowing respectfully. “I’m glad to hear your father’s doing much better.”

“He is,” Chanyeol affirmed.

“I stopped by to offer apologies,” the elder Choi said, beginning the meeting. “I know that I lashed out a bit when you came to me with the news of my son’s involvement with the Commissioner General’s daughter. It was because I was angry that my son had been so careless to allow such information to pass to begin with. I had instructed my son to keep his relationship as secret as possible, but I fear that was too difficult a task for him.”

Chanyeol felt this was very reminiscent of the elder Kim and Jongdae, and he did not want to be an audience to another emasculation of a son, so he attempted to steer the conversation away from Minho.

“It’s difficult to keep things secret. Especially something like that, which has large implications for both sides.”

“It can be done,” the elder Choi said. “It puts us in a precarious position having the Commissioner General within easy access of information of our dealings. I told my son I did not approve of the relationship, but he insisted on being disobedient.”

“It’s weird though,” Chanyeol pointed out, “Because I happen to know you’re very controlling of Minho’s affairs. You always have been. I remember that from going to school with him. So, you allowing something like this…”

“I did not allow it.”

“And yet, he’s dating the Commissioner General’s daughter.” Chanyeol made sure that his face showed confusion, even though he wasn’t confused about it. He was mostly suspicious since nothing appeared to make sense.

“I told my father that my relationship with my girlfriend was something he would not have a say in,” Minho explained. “I knew that I would suffer consequences for that decision, and I did, but I’ve stood by it. I was willing to suffer consequences to be with the person I wanted.”

“I raised my son to become a man,” the elder Choi said, “Instead he became a lovesick teenage girl.”

Unfortunately for the elder Choi, Chanyeol understood Minho too well. He looked at Minho for a moment, the younger man’s eyes filled with a deep anger that Chanyeol knew had been there for a long time. He looked back at the elder Choi.

“A man who is willing to suffer consequences to be with the person they want is a man. I know that from experience,” Chanyeol stated, and he cleared his throat, “I don’t care about your son’s love life, though. What I care about is how do you keep tabs on what information is leaving your family and ending up in police hands.”

“Minho has Jin-ri monitored at all times. We gave her a family bodyguard who reports back to us what she says and does if it has implications against the family. Luckily, Jin-ri appears to be a very obedient girl. She has not revealed any information about our dealings to anyone.”

“Not even to her father? Is her father okay with you guys giving her a bodyguard?”

“He was not at first,” the elder Choi said, “But he understands the need to protect his daughter. I’ve only spoken to him once or twice, neither times left much fondness between us, but we at least have an understanding that we want nothing bad to happen to our children.”

Chanyeol could only imagine what kind of threat the elder Choi had made to get that understanding to happen.

“It’s interesting,” Chanyeol said, “When I spoke to the Commissioner General, he seemed fond of my father and wished him well. It seems he’d have similar relationships with all the elders of our allies, including you.”

“If only our relationship could be so warm,” the elder Choi said, “Unfortunately my son ruined that by dating his daughter. The Commissioner General cares less for our family than all the others.”

“How long have you been dating her?” Chanyeol asked Minho.

“Three years,” Minho answered.

“That’s a long time,” Chanyeol said with a nod. “Well, I accept your apology. I appreciate you coming by to clear some of this up for me.”

“Of course,” the elder Choi said. “We all need to be vigilant and honest with each other during these times. I noticed the elder Kang leaving as I came in. I hope all is well on his family’s front.”

“Yes, he wanted to know the status of things, and I let him know that we’re still on standby until we can get our contact back up and running. I thought putting pressure on the Commissioner General would have helped things, but I’m starting to suspect that he’s going to be of no help.”

“No, he will be,” the elder Choi said. “You threatened to expose his daughter’s relationship with my son. I assure you there is nothing he wants less than for that information to come out to the public. He may be going slow, but I am certain he is looking for a solution.”

“He needs to hurry then,” Chanyeol said. “Maybe that’s a message your son can have his girlfriend relay to her father.”

“He will,” the elder Choi said, giving Minho a small glare of warning.

“I will speak to her about it,” Minho said.

The elder Choi stood, and Chanyeol stood as well to see him out.

But, before they reached the door, Minho asked, “I wanted to ask you, just personally, how is Jongdae doing? I ran into him last night, and he seemed well, but I wasn’t sure if he was putting on an act or not.”

“I’m not sure actually. Every time I ask about his well-being, I get the cold shoulder from his family,” Chanyeol said and then he looked a little confused, “You ran into him last night? He’s supposed to be on lockdown.”

“I thought so as well, but he said he needed to get out of the house. It’s understandable.”

“Interesting. I’ll have to look into that. Thanks for letting me know.”

“It’s not a problem. I do hope he’s doing well.”

“We all do,” Chanyeol said, and the men all bowed farewell to each other. 

Chanyeol closed the door and returned to his seat behind the desk, Junmyeon and Kyungsoo immediately moving to sit in front of him.

“Nice job,” Junmyeon complimented. “I’ll make sure you’re considered for an acting award.”

“I was so nervous,” Chanyeol admitted. “I was scared I’d give something away.”

“You handled it really well,” Kyungsoo told him with an encouraging smile, and Chanyeol let out a small sigh of relief.

“So, how much of that story are we choosing to believe?” Junmyeon asked him.

“Very little of it,” Chanyeol said, and shook his head. “Now that I’m suspicious of his motives, all I see is a snake when I look at him. And the way he treats Minho doesn’t do him any favors.”

“He did seem to come here for the purpose of making sure we do not suspect the Choi family of any involvement with the cops,” Junmyeon said.

“He went too over the top,” Chanyeol stated. “There’s no way he can’t be on civil terms with the Commissioner General if they’ve been in each other’s lives for three years. That’s enough time to accept the situation and make it work.”

“Also, there’s no way he’s only spoken to him once or twice,” Junmyeon pointed out. “The fact that he came here with brazen lies today means he’s getting very unsure of things. It felt a bit like desperation.”

“I got that sense as well,” Chanyeol nodded. “I don’t like this.”

“I don’t either. Let’s hope we hear from Jongdae and get more insight.”

Chanyeol did wonder what was taking Jongdae so long to report back considering he had his team on assignments based on whatever information he gathered last night, but he had no time to think further on it as the investors arrived soon after, and he had to sit through boring talks of hotel plans and money.

***

Jongdae ended up arriving later in the afternoon, accompanied by Yixing and his two bodyguards, one staying outside in the hallway as he had done the last time.

Chanyeol did not waste time getting down to business.

“We noticed you had a lot of directives for your team this morning,” Chanyeol pointed out, “I take it you found something out.”

“We’re in trouble,” Jongdae said, wasting no time himself, and Chanyeol paid attention. “Ju-hyun works for Minho. Whatever she observed about you the night she met you, she reported back to him. She did the same with me last night. Luckily, I had the good sense to not hook up with her.”

Chanyeol narrowed his eyes and Jongdae gave him a challenging look. He certainly seemed to be returning to his old self, Chanyeol thought. Jongdae always did like to throw things in his face when they were younger in order to get the upper hand.

“How did you find this out?”

“You told me to find out, so I found out. This is what Minho knows through Ju-hyun’s interactions with us: We’re weak, we’re not united, you have a new bodyguard that isn’t trained well, I’m being reckless by violating your orders, I don’t like you, and you’re not doing a good job of keeping everyone in line.”

“Does he really think you don’t like me, or did you just throw that one in to let me know?”

“Minho is reporting all this back to his father,” Jongdae continued, “We think the Choi’s are helping the cops with their operation in return for leniency so that when all this is done, they’ll be the only high family standing.”

Chanyeol had to take a moment to let these words sink in.

“Do you know how crazy this sounds?” Chanyeol then asked him. “You’re telling me that the Choi’s are trying to take all the families down? All of them? The Choi’s? By themselves.”

“No. The police are trying to bring all the families down with the Choi’s help. Also, we think the Choi’s may have crossed enemy lines to get the Son’s to attack our family and take us out in advance, since we all know, we were the weakest and smallest of the allies. If the Choi’s were behind that, then they were successful, meaning they’re one step closer to their goal.”

Chanyeol’s mind was not quite processing the scale of this, and he looked toward Junmyeon to see if he was as disbelieving, but Junmyeon seemed concerned as he looked toward Jongdae.

“How did you come to this conclusion?” Chanyeol asked him.

“I had an interesting conversation with Ju-hyun and Minho last night,” Jongdae answered.

“And you figured all this out from that conversation?”

“My tactics are between me and my team.”

Chanyeol narrowed his eyes at him and shook his head, then looked at Junmyeon.

“Is this making sense to you?” Chanyeol asked his advisor.

“If it’s true, it would be bold on the Choi’s part,” Junmyeon said. “And dangerous. Are they expecting the rest of the allies to not unite against them?”

“I think dealing with the cops will be enough of a distraction to not have to worry about the allies uniting against them,” Jongdae said. “The point is, we need to stack up on our security and prepare ourselves for whatever might be coming. If they think we’re as weak as they perceive us to be, then they’re going to strike soon.”

“They did try and go after the Kang’s,” Junmyeon pointed out.

“And we showed them then that we were strong,” Chanyeol stated.

“Which is why they haven’t come after us again,” Junmyeon said, “However, if they think they have a window now, they could try.”

“I’m just not buying that the Choi’s are aligned with the cops in that way.”

“You didn’t trust the elder Choi earlier today,” Junmyeon reminded him.

Chanyeol considered this and felt confused. He really hadn’t trusted him today, but he also didn’t think he would try and pull a stunt that could get his whole family killed if he failed. The Lee’s had barely survived just going after the Park’s. Did the elder Choi really think he’d pull this off against them and their allies? Then again, the Lee’s had tried to go up against them when his father had been in charge. He supposed he could understand the elder Choi taking his chances with Chanyeol as the head instead.

He felt a headache start to form.

“Okay,” Chanyeol said to Jongdae. “I’m not convinced on this theory of yours, but we’ll play it safe just in case you’re right.”

“Are you not convinced because it’s coming from me?”

“I just don’t see or understand how you could have found all that out from one night with Ju-hyun and Minho. I’m sorry it seems a bit far-fetched. What did they tell you that made you connect all those dots?”

“I’m not at liberty to discuss my operation with you.”

“First of all, it’s my operation. I let you do this, which means, second of all, you report to me and tell me what I need to know.”

“I told you what you need to know.”

“I need to know how you came to this conclusion.”

“You only need to trust me.”

“You’re telling me I can’t trust the Choi’s or Minho, and it seems that I can’t really trust any of our allies, so why the hell would I trust you? How do I know you’re not working with Minho on this and that’s why you wanted so desperately to be a part of this operation? How do I know you’re not framing the Choi’s for your own personal gain?”

He kept his gaze on Jongdae who didn’t falter as he stared back at him.

“I gave you the information that I discovered,” Jongdae said. “What you do with it is up to you. The consequences of that decision are yours. I did my part.”

Jongdae stood up and bowed to him indicating he would be leaving, but Junmyeon stopped him.

“Wait, you wanted the background check information on Ju-hyun,” the advisor said, looking between Jongdae and Yixing. “Did you uncover anything new or find something we missed?”

“Not yet,” Jongdae answered. “We took a look at it, but we plan on studying it a bit more tonight.”

Junmyeon nodded and said, “Please let me know if we overlooked anything.”

“I don’t think you did,” Yixing said to him. “It’s very straightforward.”

“I think what we’re looking for isn’t so much what’s there,” Jongdae said, “But what isn’t there. I just have a weird hunch about it. We’ll let you know if we were right or not.”

“Thank you,” Junmyeon said. “Also, was Minho’s girlfriend present last night as well, or was it just him and Ju-hyun.”

“She was there, along with some other guy who I’m assuming is a friend.”

“Any bodyguards?”

“Just Minho’s.”

“Okay,” Junmyeon said. “Thank you.”

“You guys find out something too?” Jongdae asked him.

“Possibly,” Junmyeon said, looking over at Chanyeol.

“We’ll fill you in if it turns out to be something,” Chanyeol said.

“Sure you will,” Jongdae said, turning and leaving without bothering to bow farewell again.

When they had left, D.O. came to sit at the desk, but Junmyeon stayed in his normal advisor seat.

“So, she doesn’t have her bodyguard with her at all times,” Junmyeon pointed out.

“Maybe Minho feels it’s not necessary with his around,” Chanyeol guessed.

“During these times?” Junmyeon asked. “If he’s possibly going to use us dropping our guard against us, I find it hard to believe he wouldn’t be keeping his guard up.”

“So you’re thinking she doesn’t have a bodyguard?”

“I just don’t buy that the Commissioner General would allow that. I feel he would give her his own protection. Why would he trust a high family’s protection to watch over his daughter?”

“What do you think about this crazy story Jongdae told us?”

“I don’t think it’s that crazy,” Junmyeon said.

Chanyeol didn’t want to hear that, so he looked at D.O. and asked, “What about you?”

“I don’t think it’s crazy either,” D.O. replied.

Chanyeol groaned and put a hand on his head.

“Great, I definitely have a headache now. So what do we think the Choi’s are doing here then?  Do we think they’re going to come to our homes and start opening fire? Do I evacuate everyone? Like, what am I trying to prepare for here?”

“We need to check in with Jongin and see if he’s heard from Minseok,” Junmyeon said. “Hopefully he got some insight on what to expect.”

“Okay get on that. Are we done for the day?”

“We are,” Junmyeon said, dialing a number on his phone. “I’m calling Jongin now. You should go prepare for dinner. You have a big night ahead of you.”

“I do,” Chanyeol said with a smile. “Are you coming?”

“Yep, I got the official invite from the baby Park himself during lunch,” Junmyeon said with a big smile, and then he turned his attention to talking with Jongin on the phone.

Chanyeol stood and left Junmyeon to it. He left with D.O., and the two walked together toward the basketball court, which was now where they spent their alone time before Chanyeol had to leave for dinner.

“I wish you could stay tonight for my son’s sleepover,” Chanyeol said. “But you haven’t met him yet, so it’d be a bit awkward.”

“It would be,” D.O. agreed, his hands in the pockets of his jacket as he walked, looking straight ahead. “But I’m not much of a party crasher when I don’t know the host.”

“Such polite manners,” Chanyeol teased him. “I do want to introduce him to you. I’m just not sure now is the right time with everything happening.”

“It’s fine,” D.O. said. “I do look forward to meeting him though. Maybe he can teach me some tips on how I can wrap you around my finger too.”

Chanyeol looked at him with an amused smile, “As if you don’t already?”  He enjoyed it too much when D.O. flirted with him, mostly because he still found it unexpected.

D.O. didn’t look at him, but his lips did twitch upward.

“I noticed in the office,” D.O. then said, “That you didn’t correct Jongin when he called me your boyfriend.”

“Why would I correct him?”

“Because I’m not your boyfriend?”

“Oh,” Chanyeol said, confused again, “Do you not believe in labels?”

“We’re going slow remember? I don’t think we’ve worked up to that yet.”

“Then what are we doing?”

“You’re courting me, and I think you owe me another date.”

“I’m starting to think that your going slow thing is an act because you just like going on dates. Also because you like to watch me suffer. You know we can still go on dates if you’re my boyfriend, right?”

“I’ve never been a boyfriend. It seems weird. I don’t think I’m ready for that yet.”

“Well, I hate to break this to you, but whether or not you care for the label, you kind of are my boyfriend. I’m not sure how else I would refer to you.”

“Doesn’t boyfriend connotate a commitment? I don’t remember making one to you.”

“Why do you hate me?” Chanyeol asked, pouting as he looked at him. “Do you not want to be my boyfriend?”

“Did you just turn five on me?”

“Shut up,” Chanyeol said, stepping onto the basketball court and looking around to make sure they were alone. “Anyway, are we going to spend our time alone arguing about this or can we kiss?”

“Do we always have to kiss when we’re alone?”

“Do you not like kissing?”

“I like kissing you, but I think our relationship should be more than just kissing.”

“We don’t have a relationship according to you,” Chanyeol smarted, and he made a scrunchy nose face.

“You’re really good at making cute faces.”

“It wasn’t a cute face. It was my mean face,” he said, doing it again so he could get another chuckle from him. It worked and Chanyeol could feel his face light up at witnessing it.

“Okay, fine, just for making that face, we can kiss.”

“Nope,” Chanyeol said shaking his head. “We’re not kissing again until I take you on another date. I don’t want to overstep my non-boyfriend boundaries.”

D.O. seemed to have a playful smirk at this and he stepped closer to Chanyeol and looked up at him.

“Is the next date right now?”

“Nope. I’m making you suffer since you’re making me suffer.”

“Then when is it?”

“Hm,” Chanyeol said thinking for a moment, “Well, we have to go to the new hotel tomorrow and do a walk through with the architects. How about I take you for a nice lunch after that?”

“That sounds nice,” D.O. said with a big smile and it took everything within Chanyeol to not lean his head down to kiss it.

“I know this tteokbokki place…” Chanyeol began, anticipating the frown that formed on D.O.’s face.

“I’m not a cheap date.”

“You have so many rules,” Chanyeol said, waving his hands in playful frustration. “Take me on dates, make sure it’s not cheap, no kissing all the time, I’m not your boyfriend, take it slow, take it very slow, don’t call potential helpful Choi family insider back. Ever,” he accentuated.

D.O. bit his lip and looked down for a moment, which Chanyeol had not expected.

“What’s wrong?” Chanyeol asked him.

“I’m sorry I’m doing this all wrong,” D.O. said, not looking up at him.

“What are you talking about?” Chanyeol said, and he tucked his hand under the shorter man’s chin to lift it up gently so he could look at him. “I was messing with you. You’re not doing anything wrong.”

“Have you ever dated anyone that didn’t just jump into bed with you the first chance they got?”

“No, but, I don’t tend to date anyone to begin with so…”

“During the Choi meeting, you said that you knew from experience that a man who was willing to suffer consequences to be with the person they want is a man. So there’s at least one person that you’ve dated that meant something to you. Did they jump into bed with you the first chance they got?”

Chanyeol felt a bit stunned to hear his words thrown back at him, especially ones that were too personal and that he shouldn’t have shared. He could only imagine that Junmyeon had filed that slip up away as well to investigate later.

“I shouldn’t have said that,” Chanyeol muttered.

“Why not? If it was true.”

“I can’t talk about it. I mean, I don’t talk about it,” Chanyeol said, and his stomach sank for a moment. “And I can’t answer your question because it wasn’t that simple. I don’t… I don’t…” Chanyeol then shook his head and D.O. reached his hand out to his forearm, giving it a squeeze.

“I’m sorry,” the smaller man said. “I didn’t mean to bring up something painful. We can go back to talking about how I’m a demanding almost boyfriend.”

Chanyeol appreciated the sentiment, nodding and saying, “After our date tomorrow, you’ll be my boyfriend period. You will not deny me a label after you’ve tried the best tteokbokki in town.”

“I’m going to break up with you before I’m your boyfriend if you take me to tteokbokki on our date.”

“You won’t. That’s how much confidence I have in this tteokbokki.”

D.O. looked at him dubious with a side glare, and Chanyeol laughed and wrapped his hands around the shorter man’s mid-back, pulling him closer to him.

“I’m not going to kiss you, but hugging is fine, right?” Chanyeol asked him.

D.O. nodded, wrapping his arms around Chanyeol’s waist, less tentatively this time than he usually did, and Chanyeol loved the tender touch and wished he could keep his almost boyfriend’s hands there forever.

But their time was once again too short, and D.O. did sneak attack a small kiss to Chanyeol’s cheek before leaving him for the night. Chanyeol walked back to the house with a stupid smile on his face, still feeling the imprint of D.O.’s heart-shaped lips on the side of his face.

***

“Grandma like my bed?” Taemin asked his grandmother, who had been given the honors of sharing Taemin’s bed with him for the night.

“Oh, yes,” she said with a big smile and patting the comforter. “This is a very comfortable bed.”

“Comfortable,” Taemin repeated.

Chanyeol sat beside Jongin on the floor, feeling like he was a kid all over again as he pushed at his cousin who had put his sleeping bag over his.

“Stop, it’s warmer that way,” Jongin said, pushing him back with a laugh.

“But you don’t have to put it on top,” Chanyeol reasoned. “Just put it to the side.”

“Children,” Junmyeon said, propped up in his nice setup he had created for himself with his blankets and comforter and pillow up against the wall, which he leaned against as he sat reading through one of Taemin’s books. “There’s enough space for everyone.”

Anya, who had also situated herself nicely across from Junmyeon chuckled at them and asked Taemin which book he’d prefer to be read to him that night.

“Is Junmyeon going to read me?” Taemin asked, pointing toward him.

“This book?” Junmyeon asked holding it up. “I can read you this book.”

“Everyone read book,” Taemin said.

“Oh, we can pass it around?” Junmyeon asked, closing it to pass to Jongin.

“No, everyone read different book,” Taemin explained. “That’s yours.”

“Everyone pick really short books,” Chanyeol said, and Jongin smacked his arm with a laugh.

Jongin motioned for Anya to toss books their way since she was closest to the bookshelf, and she passed around the shortest books she could find.

“Daddy, you tell story too,” Taemin demanded.

“This is going to take a long time,” Chanyeol said looking up at where his son sat on his bed. “You sure you’re going to stay awake for all this?” He asked him with a small glint of humor.

“I stay awake,” Taemin nodded.

“I’m already sleeping,” Chanyeol’s mother said, and everyone laughed except Taemin who told her that she had to stay awake too.

It felt nice to be all together in the room, taking turns reading stories until Taemin did pass out, only making it through three.

Anya turned the light switch off and the room remained only illuminated by the fairy lights they had strung up in decoration for their impromptu sleepover, Chanyeol having thought that lights maybe could help Taemin be less scared of his room as well.

“Thanks for letting us have this,” Jongin said to Chanyeol, his voice soft and low as everyone drifted off to sleep.

“I know how much you needed a good sleepover,” Chanyeol teased him, turning to his side to face him as he spoke.

“I think we all did,” Jongin said with a soft smile. “But I meant for this time and memory with you and Taemin. I know you like to keep him all to yourself, and you can’t wait for the two of you to be out of here, but this means a lot to us. I missed having you around the house.”

Chanyeol thought about all the words he had heard from his mother and father on this issue, and he felt guilt weigh on his heart.

“You know that me wanting to leave has nothing to do with you, right? Any of you. And I’m not trying to raise Taemin to not love you guys. I’m just trying to protect him. That’s it.”

“I know you have your reasons,” Jongin said.

“We love you. Both Taemin and I have nothing but love for you and the rest of this family,” Chanyeol stressed.

“And we have nothing but love for the both of you.”

“I always felt like the odd person out in the family, and I just wanted to go and figure out who I was,” Chanyeol said, as if he had to explain, or maybe owed Jongin an explanation after all this time. “See if there was another life for me. You always knew this would be your life. You fit into it perfectly, and I always thought you were so lucky for that. I wanted to find where I fit in.”

“Did you find it?”

“Not really,” Chanyeol admitted with a light snort. “I started to think that maybe I didn’t fit in anywhere. But, at least when Taemin came along, I suddenly felt like I at least had a purpose.”

“You didn’t seem so lost though,” Jongin said. “You always walked your own path and it felt like you were confident in what you were doing. I always thought you were so cool. Now I know better,” he teased and kicked at Chanyeol’s foot.

Chanyeol kicked him back and messed up Jongin’s hair.

“I’m still cool. You just got cool too. I still don’t know how that happened.”

“Well, you left so someone had to do it.”

“And you did it well. Just like when I leave and you end up taking over the family. You’ll do that well too.”

Jongin chuckled a little, then said, “That’s not my fate in this family. Maybe my kids, when I have them. Your father will live a long time though, so at least one of my kids will be old enough to take over by then.”

“Not if you don’t get started soon,” Chanyeol joked.

“I’m getting there. Once we take care of this mess with the cops, we’ll sit down and you and Junmyeon can help me come up with the best way to propose. I don’t want to do it in a basic way like where we met or our first date.”

“Weren’t those both at your middle school?”

“Yeah. See? I don’t want to do it there. I want it to be really special. She deserves that for putting up with me all these years.”

“I don’t think Chrystal sees it as putting up with you,” Chanyeol assured him. “She thinks you’re the most amazing man in the world. I don’t have the heart to break the news to her, so I just keep letting her believe that.”

“She doesn’t think that,” Jongin said, covering his mouth to keep from laughing too loud so he didn’t wake anyone. “But I do think that about her, so either way.”

“That’s kind of really nice,” Chanyeol said, feeling a small tug in his chest. “You’re lucky, you know? You both are.”

“You could be lucky too,” Jongin said. “If you let it happen. For a minute there, before Taemin came along, I thought you were getting there. Every time I’d meet up with you, you had that little smile on your face that usually happened when you were really taken with someone and allowing them to light up your world. You have that again now. I really think you should let it happen.”

“I have never been taken with anyone and allowed them to light up my world,” Chanyeol defended, his heart skipping a beat the moment that Jongin had said it.

“It’s happened exactly three times,” Jongin said. “Once in high school, once when you were out on your own, and now. This is the first time I know who’s behind the smile, so I’m very invested and cheering for this to be the successful one.”

“I don’t know if it can be,” Chanyeol said, though he couldn’t hide the smile that took over his face as his thoughts of D.O. betrayed him. “But we’ll see what happens.”

“You are so whipped.”

“Shut up,” Chanyeol said, shoving him and turning to face away from him so they could end this conversation.

He knew he had a dumb smile on his face as he fell asleep that night, thinking about how much fun he’d have watching D.O. eat tteokbokki tomorrow with a scowl on his face.

***

Chanyeol and D.O. arrived at the site of the new hotel, the many stories already erected as the structure looked closer to completion than Chanyeol had anticipated.

“I thought they kept showing me plans because they hadn’t even gotten this far yet,” Chanyeol admitted to D.O., feeling dumb as they got out of the car.

They were greeted at the entrance of the hotel with Jongin, who had said he’d meet them there after he ran some errands. It seemed these errands involved Minseok, who stood beside him.

“We got some things to do after this,” Jongin explained when Chanyeol gave a curious look at Minseok’s presence, “So I thought it’d be easier if he was here and we could just leave right after.”

Chanyeol gave an understanding nod and led the way in, being greeted right away by the architects who bowed to the team in greeting.

“Okay, show me the bar,” Jongin said, rubbing his hands together in excitement.

“Right this way,” the lead architect said, extending an arm out toward the direction they would be led in.

The space had not been completed yet, but even in its state, it was clear to envision people in it, talking and drinking and spending their downtime well.

“Are the walls getting more outlets?” Jongin asked.

“These are the only ones that were accounted for in the initial design that was approved,” the architect explained.

Jongin shook his head, “Can we get more outlets in here? People like to show off they’re having a good time. They need to be able to charge their phones.”

“I think my father may have had a more exclusive, no photos type of idea in mind with this hotel,” Chanyeol pointed out, thinking of what the architects had told them previously.

“The best way to show off exclusivity is by showing it off,” Jongin said. “Not everyone is going to be able to afford to walk through the hotel doors, much less afford a drink at this bar. We’re not going to advertise this bar, because it’s exclusive and we want to pretend that we don’t want just anyone coming into it, so we have to let our patrons do our advertising for us. We accounted for a low advertising budget for that purpose, so we can use some of the money that would have gone to that to getting more outlets in here. Right?”

“Of course, but it would have to be signed off by Mr. Park,” the architect said, motioning toward Chanyeol.

Chanyeol could only trust that Jongin knew what he was doing, after all, his father had put his cousin in charge of entertainment for a reason.

“Let’s do more outlets then,” Chanyeol nodded.

Jongin smiled and headed toward one of the walls, motioning for the architects to follow.

“I’m so bad at this,” Chanyeol said to D.O. as they stood and watched the architects make notations on their tablets as they walked around the space with Jongin, who pointed out every place he wanted them added. “My father would walk in here with a vision. My cousin sees places for improvements. I just see a bunch of walls.”

“A space like this,” D.O. said, motioning to the area between the bar and the lobby, “acts as a transition space to prepare a person to enter a new specific space different from the one they left. This area of the bar,” D.O. said motioning toward the side across from where they stood, “is a visual rest space. Nothing will happen with this space, and it won’t be used, but it provides a visual rest from the other parts of this space. Every space has a purpose.”

Chanyeol stared at him, unsure of what to make of his sudden spatial knowledge.

“I thought you’re majoring in Business,” Chanyeol said.

“I want to own my own shop remember?” D.O. answered. “I want to design the perfect hair salon.”

Chanyeol smiled, then hid his smile in case someone was watching. He glanced to the side to see Minseok leaning against the bar, on his phone, not looking the least bit interested in anything that was going on.

“We’re going to explore some more while you guys do that,” Chanyeol let the rest of the party know.

“Where’s the indoor swimming pool?” Jongin asked the architects. “Check that out and we’ll meet you there in a few.”

The lead architect gave Chanyeol the directions and he followed them, finding the indoor swimming pool, which sat square in the middle of the room it had been built in and had windows above it.

D.O. glanced around to make sure they were alone then walked to the edge of the pool to look up.

“Wow,” D.O. said, “You can float in the pool and have a nice view. Almost like you’re outside.”

“It is really nice,” Chanyeol agreed, taking D.O.s’ hand and pulling him away from the edge so he could be closer to him without fear of him accidentally falling in. “This space also serves a purpose then?”

“To house an indoor pool?” D.O. smarted dubiously, and Chanyeol shook his head.

“No, it’s our mini escape space. Also I realized back there how hot you were talking about space and stuff, and I couldn’t wait until after our date to kiss you, so this is now part of our date. If it’s okay with you, I’m going to kiss you.”

“It’s okay with me,” D.O. said, and Chanyeol leaned down to taste D.O.’s lips, and then let his tongue slip through them and intertwine with his, wondering if D.O. could taste the desire and anticipation that Chanyeol had been keeping inside of him for the past day.

D.O. let his hands rest on Chanyeol’s hips, and Chanyeol moved his own hands down the man’s back, settling them on his lower back as he held him close to him.

“Sometimes I feel you’re afraid to touch me,” Chanyeol finally mentioned when they stopped to catch their breaths.

“I am,” D.O. admitted, “I’m not sure where to touch you.”

“Anywhere,” Chanyeol said. “Wherever you feel like it. This is all instinctual. I know you haven’t had the experience, but you know what feels good. Go with that.”

D.O. paid close attention to him as he spoke and then he nodded, looking at Chanyeol’s body in front of him as if debating where to move his hands, but then he moved them to Chanyeol’s lower back, similar to where Chanyeol held his hands on D.O.

“You’re doing this to me,” D.O. explained, “And it feels nice. So, I think this feels nice for you if I put my hands here too.”

“It does,” Chanyeol confirmed, and he leaned down to give him another kiss, very much liking doing so with D.O.’s hands pressing against his lower back.

Then out of a natural instinct and desire, Chanyeol allowed one of his hands to drop lower, grazing over the top of D.O.’s ass, and the shorter man broke the kiss and looked at him stunned.

“Okay, too soon,” Chanyeol said, moving his hand back up to D.O.’s lower back. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” D.O. said. “I was just startled.”

“Let me know when you’re ready for that because, full confession, you kinda have a great ass.”

“Oh,” D.O. said, looking unsure by this, “So you would like it if I did this,” he then said, moving his hand down to the top of Chanyeol’s ass and causing a ripple of excitement to flow through him.

“I would,” Chanyeol said, biting his lip a little. “But, we don’t have to do that now. We can work our way to that.”

“No, I think it’s okay,” D.O. said, moving his hand so he could push Chanyeol’s hand back lower to where he had had it, and then leaning up in search of another kiss, which Chanyeol promptly gave him.

Chanyeol was hesitant to move his hand from the spot, but when D.O. did so and decided to explore Chanyeol’s backside a bit more, Chanyeol took that as a cue that he was allowed to explore a bit more freely as well, and he cupped D.O.’s ass cheek as he deepened the kiss further.

“Are we still okay?” Chanyeol asked him, searching his eyes to make sure he wasn’t upset or nervous.

D.O. nodded then said, “That feels really good.”

“Yeah, that’s, you know, the point.”

And then D.O. reached up again to kiss him further, this time pushing against him causing them to move back a few steps as D.O. squeezed Chanyeol’s ass, which made Chanyeol feel more excited and warm, grateful to know that their feelings on the subject were mutual.

If Chanyeol had ever doubted D.O.’s need for human contact, it was washed away in a series of kisses and touches, then more exploration as D.O. ran his hand around Chanyeol’s side and in between them, his fingers gripping his shirt. Chanyeol grabbed D.O.’s hand and guided it under his shirt so D.O. could feel the warmth of Chanyeol’s skin, and he almost combusted when D.O.’s fingers seemed to grasp for his skin, as their kiss grew sloppy.

When they broke their kiss again, Chanyeol looked into D.O.’s eyes thinking too many thoughts to convey, but choosing the first one he could grasp.

“I want to make you feel good in so many ways.”

D.O.’s tongue slid over his own bottom lip as he looked at him, his chest heaving and his eyes expressing a need that Chanyeol hadn’t seen come from him until that moment.

“You deserve to feel good,” Chanyeol told him. “I’m sorry you were never allowed to experience it before, or weren’t given the chance. I don’t know exactly what happened to you when they taught you to remove your feelings from yourself, but I want to help you feel all the good ones that you’re meant to have.”

“You’re already doing it,” D.O. said, and he moved his hand back to Chanyeol’s lower back, squeezing him closer to him as he spoke. “The reason that I like watching movies so much is because they make me feel. I can be scared when watching a horror movie, or I can cry when there is a loss, and I can watch two people fall in love and it makes me smile. I still have those feelings inside of me. Even the ones I’ve never used.”

“Like falling in love.”

D.O. nodded, and he blinked, passing his tongue over his bottom lip again and saying, “I think I’m starting to understand that one though. And it’s scary.”

“It is scary,” Chanyeol nodded. “I know from experience.”

“It’s only scary because I’m not sure I should,” D.O. explained. “I’m scared if I allow myself to do this, then I’ll have no control over what happens next, and if you leave like you want to, then I’ll never see you again and then…”

“If I leave like I want to,” Chanyeol said, moving his hand up to D.O.’s face, so he could caress the soft skin of his cheek, “I’d take you with me.”

“You think I would go with you?” D.O. said, and it was his normal snarky reply, but it lacked the snark, as if he had to answer in this way to stay true to his nature, but his true feelings betrayed the statement.

“I’d beg you to come with me.”

“We haven’t even known each other that long, and you would beg me to come with you to start your new life with you and your son?”

“I have only ever felt this way once before in my life, and the lesson I learned from that is that life is too short to not take action when you can. We would be happy away from all of this. We wouldn’t have to sneak around. We could be free to kiss and touch and stare at each other without worrying that anyone will see.”

“That sounds like a fantasy,” D.O. said.

“It’s our fantasy that we’re going to make a reality.”

“You are so good at this,” D.O. then said. “No wonder people sleep with you without a date.”

“Are you feeling like you want to sleep with me?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“You kinda said that.”

“Those were not my words.”

“They kinda were.”

“Just shut up,” D.O. said, and he kissed Chanyeol to keep him from saying anything else, though the smile on Chanyeol’s face stayed in place during the kiss, because this moment right here felt like a fantasy, with D.O. in his arms and the reflection of the blue pool water bouncing off the glass above it, forming perfect blue rays to scatter throughout the space, which suddenly to Chanyeol very much had a purpose.

“Oh wait! I thought you said the pool was that way!” Jongin yelled out rather loudly, and Chanyeol and D.O. moved away from each other, attempting to compose themselves as Jongin and the rest of the party walked in.

“Wow, this is nice,” Minseok observed as he took it in and the architects began explaining the modifications they had recently made.

Jongin glanced at Chanyeol in a way to ask if everything was good, and Chanyeol nodded and cleared his throat, walking over to stand back beside him.

“Fix your shirt,” Jongin mentioned to him so only he could hear, and Chanyeol looked down and quickly did, thanking his cousin.

They walked from space to space, Jongin offering insights and suggestions that Chanyeol signed off on as they went, and at one point Minseok even brought up a suggestion that Jongin agreed with. Chanyeol looked at Kyungsoo and asked if he agreed as well, and when he said he did, Chanyeol gave the architects the go ahead.

Chanyeol kept looking for moments to steal D.O. for more kisses and touches, at one point standing beside him against a wall of windows that looked out at the river that flowed through the city.

“You never realize how beautiful the city is sometimes,” D.O. said as he looked out. “Then again, I don’t often get to see it like this.”

“I’ve seen views like this many times,” Chanyeol said, “I’ve always taken them for granted.”

“One time, I had a hit that required me to get up really high in a building,” D.O. said. “I was on the twelfth floor of a condo building. I set everything up for the hit and then lined up my shot, and while I waited for the person to come into view, I took in the city from that height and I remember thinking that it looked beautiful.”

Chanyeol shut his eyes tight, something he found himself doing whenever D.O. talked about the jobs he had to do for his dad. He hated D.O.’s past so much and still couldn’t process how D.O. didn’t hate it as much as he did.

“It probably didn’t look so beautiful after you took the shot,” Chanyeol commented evenly.

“I don’t know,” D.O. said. “Once I took the shot, I packed it up and went to your home to report back to your father. It didn’t occur to me to take another look at the city before I left. That building over there has a direct shot at this floor,” he then said pointing to a building that didn’t seem close enough to Chanyeol for that sort of thing, “It’s a good thing your father made it so people couldn’t see in. It’d be an easy shot.”

“Okay,” Chanyeol said, moving to stand behind D.O. and wrapping his arms around his waist as they both looked out at the city. “This is only happy-thought time. Take in the beautiful view as a happy memory, okay?”

“This is a very happy memory,” D.O. said with a nod, and Chanyeol could see the smile on D.O.’s face in the faint reflection of the window glass.

He dropped a small kiss on his cheek before staring back out the window with him for as long as he could before he heard Jongin’s voice approaching again.

When they were done with the walk-through, Chanyeol shook hands with the architects and the lead engineer who had joined them along the way, and all parties bowed before parting.

“Your dad is going to love everything when he finally sees it,” Jongin said as they walked through the lobby.

“I think he will too,” Chanyeol nodded. “Thanks for knowing about stuff in there. I was at a complete loss.”

“No worries. It was fun,” Jongin said with a big smile. “Right, Minseok?”

“That was a lot more fun than I thought it was going to be,” Minseok agreed. “I was prepared to be bored. This hotel is definitely one for the Park’s to be proud of.”

Chanyeol was surprised to hear Minseok speak so candidly in a positive manner about it, but he did also notice a slight look of defeat as Minseok looked around, almost as if thinking about what his own family could have had, or maybe what they had lost.

“Where are you headed to now?” Jongin asked Chanyeol as they made it outside and headed to their respective cars.

“Getting lunch,” Chanyeol said. “Is your errand related to finding out more info to help us out with all this?”

“It is,” Jongin said and then they all looked over toward the street as they heard a loud screech and commotion, seeing several cop cars pull out in front of them.

It took Chanyeol too long to realize what was occurring, instead feeling himself being shoved down to the ground, and when his mind had finally processed that what he heard was the sound of gunshots being fired, he crawled as quick as he could to the side of his car, pulling his gun out from his holster and fumbling it, not having to ever pull it out to use before for anything other than target practice.

When he finally got a tight grip on it, he looked to his right to see Minseok and Jongin using Jongin’s car as a shield as they fired shots over the hood and trunk respectively. He turned and tried to do the same, only able to fire one shot before ducking again as he saw one of the cops take aim right at him. His heart could not have been pounding any faster or harder, and he was certain he was about to have a heart attack. All he could think at that moment was about Taemin, and how he didn’t want to die and never see his son again.

Chanyeol looked to his left and saw D.O., sitting with his back squarely against the car beside Chanyeol’s, holding his gun against his chest with his eyes closed, almost looking as if he was asleep. Chanyeol wasn’t sure what he was doing or if he should yell at him to do something, but in a quick flash, D.O. stood up and took aim, fired six rapid shots and remained standing in position with his gun held out as silence rained around them.

“Holy shit,” Minseok yelled out, and Chanyeol thought the same thing as he stared at D.O., who only then put his arm down and looked over at Chanyeol. “What the fuck, you got them all,” Minseok said in disbelief. “Holy shit.”

Chanyeol’s eyes were wide in awe, relief, excitement, fear, and definite disbelief.

“Are you okay?” D.O. asked him, walking to him and crouching down to look him over.

“That was amazing,” Chanyeol said. “You did that. You just. I looked over and you weren’t doing anything, and then you stood up and you did that.”

“It’s what I’m trained to do,” D.O. said dismissively as he continued to examine Chanyeol for any signs of injury.

“Yeah, but…” Chanyeol said, and before he could explain again how amazing he found it, they were interrupted by Minseok yelling again.

“Jongin’s down!” Minseok yelled out, and Chanyeol’s heart stopped. “He’s been hit!”

***

Chanyeol’s mind could not process all the emotions he had felt in that day, and a deep headache had formed that left him sitting in the hospital waiting room chair unable to focus on anything going on around him.

“We’ve secured the hospital,” the Park head of security reported, and Chanyeol thanked him.

“The house is still secure, right?” Chanyeol then asked.

“Completely secure. We’ve called in all of our resources and have made mandatory lockdowns for all non-security personnel. With the exception of Jongin’s family who insisted on coming to the hospital. We’ve given them an armed escort.”

“That’s fine,” Chanyeol said. “Thank you. Please keep me updated.”

“Yes, sir,” the security guard said with a bow and then he looked at D.O. who sat beside Chanyeol. “And thank you for saving the young Park’s life.”

“Thank you for all the great training that gave me the skill to do it,” D.O. said.

“I wish we could take credit for what you did out there,” the older man said. “You’ve always been exceptional. Thank you.” He bowed to D.O. before leaving.

Chanyeol rubbed his temples and closed his eyes as a throbbing sensation decided to join the pain.

“I’ll have the nurse bring you something for your headache,” D.O. said standing up.

“A sledgehammer might be good,” Chanyeol muttered.

D.O. returned with a nurse who provided Chanyeol with medication and a small cup of water. D.O. then placed his hand again on Chanyeol’s back to rub it, and Chanyeol felt grateful that no one accompanied them in the waiting room at the moment so that D.O. was free to do so.

“This is all my fault,” Chanyeol then said, crumpling up the small paper cup in his hand after he had taken the medication.

“This is not your fault at all,” D.O. told him.

“It is. Jongdae warned us yesterday. I should have canceled this meeting until things were safer.”

“We had no way of knowing.”

“It’s my responsibility to protect this family and I failed,” Chanyeol said. “This is why I should never have been put in charge. If Jongin doesn’t come out of this okay…”

“He will,” D.O. said, running his hand up to Chanyeol’s shoulder to give it a squeeze. “He held on well until we got here. He’s going to be fine.”

“Why did this happen?” Chanyeol said dropping his head into his hands. He wouldn’t allow himself to cry. He didn’t deserve to cry for letting this happen.

“It’s not your fault,” D.O. told him again.

“It is,” Chanyeol snapped, “How do I fix this? How do I fix this?”

“Try and calm down,” D.O. said, squeezing his shoulder again. “Let’s wait for the doctor to tell us that Jongin’s okay, and then we go from there. Security will make sure no one else gets hurt.”

And yet Chanyeol felt it was inevitable. With a blatant attack like that, it was clear his family was being targeted in a way that intended to make sure as many people got hurt as possible. Who knew what they had planned next?

He felt D.O. remove his hand from his shoulder as the sound of footsteps could be heard approaching the waiting room entrance.

“Hey,” Chanyeol heard a voice say, and he looked at the entrance of the waiting room where Minseok had just power-walked in. “Any word yet on how he’s doing?”

“Not yet,” D.O. answered for Chanyeol, who just couldn’t.

“He’ll pull through,” Minseok nodded, seemingly more to himself. “Okay, I have to say this,” he then said looking at D.O. “I love what you did out there. If it were to happen all over again, I wouldn’t have wanted you to change a thing, but do you always shoot to kill?”

“Yes,” D.O. answered. “I was trained as an assassin. I only know how to shoot to kill.”

“Right,” Minseok said putting his hands on his hips and letting out a frustrated breath.

“Is there a problem with that?” Chanyeol asked, not liking the sudden attitude he was putting off.

“A slight problem,” Minseok said. “We need information. If you kill all the people with the information, then we have no information. I got all of their badges and IDs and handed them over to security so they can start figuring out who these guys were and who they worked for, but it would have been easier to ask one of them, preferably one that had been shot in the leg and unable to move while questioning.”

“I’m sorry,” D.O. said.

“Don’t be sorry!” Chanyeol snapped and then he looked at Minseok, “He just saved our fucking lives.”

“I know,” Minseok said, not fazed by Chanyeol’s outburst, “Like I said, I wouldn’t have wanted him to change a thing, but if he’s going to continue to be your security guard, then he should learn more skills than just shooting to kill. It’ll be more valuable down the line.”

“I don’t appreciate you coming in here and talking to me like I don’t know what I’m doing,” Chanyeol said with a bitter glare.

“Then stop acting like you don’t know what you’re doing,” Minseok told him. “Anyway, I’m off to talk to your head of security. Let me know when you get an update on Jongin.”

Chanyeol wanted to strangle the tiny man, but instead he settled for letting out a frustrated noise, then letting D.O. know, “I’ve always hated that guy.”

“He makes a good point,” D.O. said. “I do have a lot to learn if I’m to be truly effective in my role.”

“You were perfect out there. He had no point.”

“Chanyeol,” D.O. said with a soft tone. “You’re very upset right now. We can talk about logistics later. Why don’t you lie down on the couch for a little bit?”

“I can’t.”

Though Chanyeol very much wished he had not too long later when Jongin’s mother came through the waiting room doors, screaming and running straight toward Chanyeol as she began to smack him repeatedly on any part of his body she could find.

“Stop, stop,” her husband said, pulling her back and away from Chanyeol, which did nothing to stop her verbal tirade.

“This is your fault! How could you let this happen to my son?” She screamed out at him, and Jongin’s father did his best to hold her and calm her down.

“Are you okay?” His own mother said, having come along too and Chanyeol barely registered that his own father had made the trip as well, along with Junmyeon and Chrystal.

“Why are you all here?” Chanyeol asked. “You need to be home where it’s safe.”

“We need to be here,” his father said, “With you and Jongin.”

His father took a seat on a chair near him, as his mother sat beside him.

“Where’s Minseok?” Junmyeon asked. “He’s okay, right?”

“He’s fine. He’s talking to security,” D.O. answered, and Junmyeon looked relieved as he took a seat across from him.

“Thank you,” Chanyeol’s father said to D.O. then, “We heard what you did. You saved my son’s life and for that I will be forever indebted to you.”

“I was doing my job,” D.O. said with a respectful bow of his head.

“You couldn’t do your job before my son was hit?” Jongin’s mother spat at D.O. “Why doesn’t he have a bodyguard too?”

“Technically,” Junmyeon interjected, “Since Minseok is part of security, he technically did have a guard with him.”

“It was very chaotic,” D.O. said to Chanyeol’s aunt to explain. “We all did the best we could given the circumstances.”

“From the sounds of it, you guys were ambushed,” Junmyeon stated. “Eight against four isn’t a fair fight. You took out six. Who took out the other two?”

“Minseok and Jongin took them out,” D.O. answered. “I wish I could have acted quicker to take them out as well before Jongin got hit, but the angle they were at would have left me with the choice of either taking them out, or taking out the other six. I felt they had it, so I focused on the six that they weren’t able to reach because of the angle they were at.”

“You made the right decision,” Chanyeol’s father assured him.

“Of course it’s the right decision if your son was spared,” Jongin’s mother cried out, and again her husband tried to calm her down while Chrystal reached over to hold her hand to help as well.

“It was the right decision because the alternative would’ve meant that no one would have been spared,” Chanyeol’s father said. “Chanyeol made the right choice in having D.O. as his bodyguard. We had no way of knowing that the cops would try something this brazen and violent against us, but in return, due to Chanyeol’s unique way of thinking, they had no way of knowing that their idea of an ambush was a death trap for them.”

“That’s true,” Junmyeon said with encouragement toward Chanyeol.

He wished he could agree with them as well and take credit for the situation, but Jongin had been hurt, so no matter what anyone tried to tell him, he knew that his decisions had been a complete failure. How was he supposed to continue on in this position after this had happened?  He needed to leave and let his father take back over, and if not his father, then the head of security could run things until his father was well enough.

He felt his mother rub her hand over his leg, and he knew that meant that she was worrying about him. He had gone too quiet and that always had caused both of his parents’ concern, but he had no words for anyone in the room. This was all his fault.

And then a thought he didn’t want to have crossed his mind, and he shut his eyes really tight to will it away, but it hit him hard and he had no choice but to think about how this must have been how the Kim’s had felt when they had heard about Mina and were stuck waiting at the hospital for an update on her condition.

He stood up abruptly and marched out of the waiting room, hearing the protests of his family and ignoring them. After everything that had happened that day, the last thing he could do was break in front of them.

***

It hadn’t been hard to find an empty, quiet room where he could hunker himself down in the corner and bury his head in his knees as he did everything in his power to keep control of his emotions. He had never been good at that, always showing instant anger when angry, and always laughing too hard the moment something funny was said. Chanyeol had always been an open book, and this had been both a curse and a blessing throughout his life.

He could hear the footsteps of someone walk into the room and he didn’t bother to look up, knowing it would have been D.O. that followed him. He felt him sit down beside him and Chanyeol wished he could tell him to go away and leave him be, but he didn’t have the energy.

“I couldn’t be in there with them,” Chanyeol explained, his voice cracking. “This is too much.”

“It’s okay,” D.O. said, rubbing Chanyeol’s arm. “It is too much.”

“The last time I was in a hospital,” Chanyeol said, “I was standing by my father’s bed, crying as I stared at him, and begging him to pull through it.”

“And he did.”

“It was hard. You just don’t know until the doctors confirm things. So, we just waited and waited. My mom wouldn’t stop crying, my aunt wouldn’t stop crying, I wouldn’t stop crying. The only person who kept it together in the waiting room was Jongin, bringing us all tea and coffee and snacks and giving us a smile saying everything would be fine. Jongin is under this strange impression that my father will live forever, or close to it.”

“I agree with Jongin,” D.O. said. “And I also believe that Jongin will live close to forever.”

“It seems like so long ago now,” Chanyeol said, thinking about all the time that had passed since he had taken over the family. “Whoever is behind all this has been trying to kill my family for months now. I have to end this.”

“We will.”

“I don’t know what I’ll do if Jongin isn’t okay.”

“He’s going to be okay. You held him in the car all the way here. You were talking to him, and he was conscious. You have to believe he’s going to be okay.”

He had been talking to him in the car as he held him in the backseat while D.O. drove them at dangerous speeds to make it to the hospital in time. When he had processed the fact that Jongin was in the hands of the doctors, he was finally able to fully realize the situation. He had looked down and saw himself covered in blood and had almost broken down then. But somehow, he had held it together, accepting the change of clothes that security had brought him and collecting his thoughts as he changed out of the blood-soaked ones he would never wear again.

“I can’t do this again,” Chanyeol said shaking his head, his thoughts so scattered that he barely knew what he was saying.

“I understand,” D.O. told him.

“I’m sure you do,” Chanyeol said looking at him, “You probably thought you lost my father too.”

“The last time I was in a hospital,” D.O. said. “I had to say goodbye to my mother.”

Chanyeol’s head turned in D.O.’s direction, and he looked at him unsure, waiting for him to continue.

“She had been very ill,” D.O. explained. “For a very long time. It was why I asked to leave the family when I did. My mind couldn’t focus on my duties when I knew my mother was getting worse and may not have a lot of time left. Your father made sure we were taken care of. He had been paying for her medical bills and trying to get her the best treatment they could find, but nothing worked. So, I spent the last year of her life with her, taking care of her and helping her be more comfortable. And when it was time, I said goodbye to her.”

Chanyeol couldn’t stop the tears from forming in his eyes then, but he still fought to keep them back as he said, “I’m so sorry.”

“I think she really would have liked you,” D.O. told him.

“I wish I could have met her,” Chanyeol nodded, sniffling to keep his tears at bay. “So, you have no family anymore?”

D.O. shook his head and said, “It’s just me.”

Chanyeol felt his heart tighten, and he leaned toward D.O. and wrapped his arms around him, holding the man who sat stoic even after having shared what had to have been his most horrible memory.

“How do you do it?” Chanyeol asked him. “You must feel so lonely.”

“At first, yes, but after time you keep going. I know my mother would have wanted me to be happy, so I try to live each day in a happy way, even if it’s just watching movies and eating a lot of rice cakes. I think we’re all built to adapt to our situations. Whatever they may be.”

“Every time you tell me something about your life, it makes me feel even more spoiled and more guilty for having been privileged.”

“You shouldn’t feel that way,” D.O. told him. “It doesn’t matter what your situation is, there is someone who has it better than you, and someone who has it worse. That goes for everyone.”

“Have you ever met someone that’s had it worse than you?” Chanyeol asked him. “Or are you just assuming that’s the case?”

“I have,” D.O. said. “I’ve met someone who never had the chance to be raised by either of his parents. He never got to experience the hug of a mother when he had a bad day at school, or the safety of a home to go to at night. I am very lucky in my life to have been born to someone who cared so much about me, and did everything she could to make sure I had a safe place to sleep and food to eat, even if it meant she’d have to go without food for the night.”

“She must have been an amazing woman,” Chanyeol said, “Because you turned out kind of amazing, despite everything you went through. Did your mother know?”

“She knew I worked for your father and was part of the Park family. She hated it. She had warned me to not get involved, and I tried to hide it from her at first, but she ended up finding out anyway because the truth always somehow comes out, no matter how hard you try and hide it.”

Chanyeol bit his lip and sniffled again as he listened.

“She never knew what I did for your father. She assumed I was doing security work of some kind. She asked me once if I had killed anyone, and I told her that I don’t get put on jobs like that. She was relieved to hear it, though I never found out if she really believed me or chose to believe it but knew better.”

“You should have listened to your mother,” Chanyeol chided him.

“If I had, it would have changed very little,” D.O. pointed out. “She still would have gotten sick, and we would have had little access to the best treatments, so she would have probably passed sooner. I’m very grateful to your father for everything he did for her and letting me have a little more time with her than I would have had he never entered our lives.”

Chanyeol supposed that was one way to look at it, and he couldn’t argue the logic at the moment.

“Well you have me now,” Chanyeol told him. “And I’m not that great, but I can help you not feel lonely. And I can give you a hug when you have a bad day.”

“Not the same thing,” D.O. said.

And Chanyeol nodded, because he knew it wasn’t, and they were both trying to make light in a horrible situation and failing miserably at it because the situation was too distressing.

“You still have our family you know?” Chanyeol then thought to say. “I know it’s not the same, but my father does see you as a son, and my mother would treat you like a son if you wanted her to. They can’t replace your mother, but my father does care about you a lot.”

“I know,” D.O. said. “Although I think it may be strange now for your father to see me as a son when I’m the almost boyfriend of his son.”

“Yeah, I’ve been trying not to think too much about that,” Chanyeol admitted. “I doubt he’s going to take it well when he finds out.”

“We shouldn’t worry about it now.”

“No, definitely not,” Chanyeol agreed and then he shifted his body to better hold onto D.O. for a moment because he needed to hold onto someone and pull himself together before going to the waiting room.

D.O. held him back and said nothing, running his fingers through Chanyeol’s hair and allowing Chanyeol the time he needed.

***

When Chanyeol entered back into the waiting room, Minseok had joined the group, sitting in the chair by Junmyeon.

His mother said nothing when she saw him, and simply pat his leg and gave him an encouraging look. His father nodded at him in understanding, and Chanyeol took a deep breath and looked around the room at everyone that had been affected by the events of today. He felt he should address them, or say something to help their spirits, but it was hard to say anything without knowing Jongin’s condition.

They were finally put out of their misery moments later when the doctor came in to inform them that Jongin was in stable condition. He had been shot in his left shoulder and his right arm, both shots having missed any major arteries or bones.  

When the doctor said that Jongin would come through it just fine, Jongin’s mother almost threw herself to the door, demanding to see him, and the doctor escorted her, his father and Chrystal to his room.

“We have been blessed today,” Chanyeol’s father said, the waiting room much quieter now and finally free of tension.

“I doubt we have many blessed days left,” Chanyeol stated and he looked at Junmyeon. “We need to end this before the next attack.”

“Jongdae has a plan,” Minseok said.

“Of course he does,” Chanyeol stated.

“It’s a good plan,” Junmyeon said, “You might want to hear him out.”

“You’ve already heard the plan?” Chanyeol asked him, not sure why this bothered him.

“Yixing gave me the heads up this morning,” Junmyeon explained. “He wasn’t going to give me many of the details, but I got enough of the gist to think it’s worth looking into.”

“Isn’t that nice?” Chanyeol said, his eyes narrowing slightly.

“Just because you hate him doesn’t mean you should dismiss his plan,” Minseok said.

“You know what I think is funny?” Chanyeol then said looking right at Minseok. “You’ve never come with us to anything before, and the first time you do, this happens.”

“Chanyeol…” Junmyeon warned.

“No,” Chanyeol cut his advisor off. “I’m not crazy. Something here isn’t right. There’s no way that Jongdae knew all that information from one night of having drinks with Minho and Ju-hyun. And there’s no way that he sensed something was up with her when we didn’t. Fine, maybe I wasn’t paying close attention and looking out for things like that, but you’re going to tell me that D.O. completely misread her like that too? Yet somehow, Jongdae of all people, who’s on suicide watch and not mentally all there, waltzes into a casual conversation and discovers some insane plot against us? Tell me I’m not crazy.”

“You’re not crazy,” Junmyeon said. “And I agree that a lot of this is suspicious. Maybe Minseok can elaborate on the methods that Jongdae used to gather this information since Jongdae wasn’t forthcoming with the information himself.”

“You’re fucking out of your mind if you think I’m going to tell you anything after you just sat there and accused me and my family of somehow being involved with what happened today,” Minseok stated, with an unwavering glare.

“The cops had to know where to find us, and I know Jongin, myself and D.O. didn’t tell them,” Chanyeol threw back.

“Like you’re not under constant surveillance by them?” Minseok asked like Chanyeol was an idiot.

“This is not going to get us anywhere,” Junmyeon stated and then addressed Minseok. “The reality of the situation is that we’re all flying blind. We’ve had to rely on your contact, and we’ve only been able to trust that the information you’ve been reporting back to us is the truth. We’ve put our trust in the Kim family to help with this situation, but trust can only go so far when lives are at risk. You know you’d be suspicious too if you were in our shoes.”

“Oh,” Minseok said nodding rapidly, “I would definitely be suspicious if the situation was reversed. I’ve never trusted Chanyeol a day in my life.”

“Okay, that’s not at all where I was hoping that would go,” Junmyeon said with sigh.

“Why have you never trusted me?” Chanyeol asked, not knowing what he ever did to Minseok to make him feel that way.

“I don’t trust anyone that thinks they’re better than everyone around them. You weren’t shit then, and you aren’t shit now.”

“Can we act like adults for a moment?” Junmyeon asked.

“I don’t care what you think about me,” Chanyeol said to Minseok. “We’re not going forward with any plan your family gives us until we have a full explanation as to how Jongdae is obtaining all this information. Also, I’m demoting you back to your original position of doing security for the Kim’s. I don’t want you anywhere near our family until I get to the bottom of what’s going on with you guys.”

“This is not a surprising move coming from you,” Minseok said standing up. He looked at Junmyeon and said, “Let Jongin know I’m wishing him a speedy recovery.”

“I will,” Junmyeon said, and Minseok left with no bows or goodbyes. Junmyeon then dropped his head into his hand, rubbing his forehead.

“I don’t care if you think that was a stupid move on my part,” Chanyeol told him.

“I don’t think it was stupid,” Junmyeon said, pinching the bridge of his nose before letting go and looking back up at him. “We just don’t have time for this.”

“We don’t have time to be backstabbed again either,” Chanyeol pointed out.

“We’re down Jongin now,” Junmyeon pointed out. “We really need Minseok helping us out here.”

“Then he has to give us the information we want.”

“And what if he doesn’t?”

“Then we know the Kim’s are involved in betraying us.”

“I feel I have not been briefed on certain things,” Chanyeol’s father said, finally speaking, and Chanyeol had appreciated that his father hadn’t interfered with the discussion. It was a reminder of how long Chanyeol had been doing this, and how far he had come in leading the family without having to run to his father every moment he could for guidance.

Junmyeon filled him in.

“Jongdae came to us yesterday claiming that the Choi’s are in with the cops and helping them take down all the allied families in exchange for leniency, basically allowing them to become the most powerful high family once we’re all gone.”

“That is a bold claim,” his father said.

“That’s what I said,” Chanyeol agreed.

“It’s also bold to think the Kim’s are behind this,” Junmyeon noted.

“Not behind this,” Chanyeol clarified. “But involved somehow. Maybe they’re helping the Choi’s because they worked out a deal where the Choi’s protect them in all of this so they can be a family again, albeit a lame, smaller version than before, so they might as well pack it up anyway.”

“Okay, you’re getting really worked up,” Junmyeon said. “Keep a level head about this. Your theory is not a bad one, we just don’t have anything concrete to go off. Not with the Choi’s, not with the Kim’s. We have to be careful here before we start accusing allies of things they may not be responsible for.”

“I have known both of those families for a very long time,” Chanyeol’s father said. “We all rose up together, our alliance based on our shared experiences as we attempted to build our families. I anticipated the Kim’s breaking from us before it happened. In what we do, you can’t trust even your closest friend. It is good that you are accepting these things as possibilities, but it’s important that you also remember the other side of things. Elders do not put their families at risk to betray. If they are choosing to betray, it’s because they think they will be successful. The Choi’s certainly have the resources to think they will be successful, but what do the Kim’s have? I know my old friend is not in charge of things over there anymore outside of keeping an eye on the businesses. So, the question becomes, do you think Jongdae would risk what’s left of his family to betray us?”

“He’s not mentally stable right now,” Chanyeol said. “You saw what he did with the Wu family. Is he even capable of rational thought? If someone isn’t thinking straight, then yes, they probably would risk their family to do something stupid.”

“Yixing claims that he’s doing better,” Junmyeon told him. “I know that means taking the Kim family word for it, but Yixing is earnest.”

Chanyeol felt as if his point wasn’t getting through, and he said, “I know no one wants to entertain the thought of the Kim’s betraying us, but…”

“It’s not that,” his father said. “It’s the implication of it. The Choi’s we can handle. If we have to go to war against The Choi’s, then we will make them pay the way we made the Lee’s pay. But we can’t go to war against a family that is no longer a high family. That’s not a war. That’s genocide.”

And yet the situation was even more complicated than that. Chanyeol shut his eyes tight for a moment, trying to think through this better. He had been the one to create this situation by pulling the Kim’s back into his family to save them, so it was his situation to fix.

“Let’s set up a meeting with Jongdae tomorrow,” Chanyeol said to Junmyeon. “We’ll see if he can provide us some answers on how he’s coming up with his information. If he does, and it makes sense, then we’ll listen to his plan.”

“What if his answers don’t make sense?” Junmyeon asked.

“I don’t know,” Chanyeol said. “Let’s just play it by ear.”

Junmyeon nodded and took his phone out, probably to request the meeting through Yixing.

“Let’s go save Jongin from my sister,” Chanyeol’s father then said. “See him now so that we can get you home to rest.”

“I’m not going to rest,” Chanyeol said.

“You need to,” his mother stated. “You’ve been through a lot of mental trauma today. Don’t forget that this happened to you too.”

“Your mother’s right,” Junmyeon said, “As she always is. You won’t be able to take meetings or be of any use tomorrow if you don’t rest and go to bed.”

He knew they were right, but he also knew that he wouldn’t be sleeping that night.

In Jongin’s room, Chanyeol took in the scene as his aunt sat beside her son, holding Jongin’s hand as Chrystal sat on the other side of him doing the same.

“He’s sleeping,” Jongin’s father informed them. “He woke up momentarily and muttered some words then fell back asleep.”

“Any particular words?” Chanyeol asked.

“We couldn’t understand them,” Jongin’s father said apologetically.

“Well he’s in good hands with all of you here,” Chanyeol said. “I’m being forced back to the house, but I will stop by in the morning to check up on him. Please let me know if anything changes with his condition.”

“We will,” Jongin’s father said.

Chanyeol took a good look at Jongin, who even in a hospital bed after having been shot, still managed to look handsome and well put together. Chanyeol snorted softly to himself in fond amusement before he left the room.

***

The first thing Chanyeol did when he got home was find Taemin, who sat in his playroom with Anya playing a game that involved pushing a button very rapidly.

He sat beside him and pulled the boy away from the game and into a very tight hug that confused his son enough to make him both giggle and ask if he was okay.

“I am now,” Chanyeol said, breathing in the scent of his son and then realizing that the tears he hadn’t spilled yet were starting to fall.

The idea that he’d never see his son again had been the most painful part of the ordeal, and now he didn’t want to let him go. How could he keep him safe now with the cops stopping at nothing to come after them? How could he survive another attack to continue to have days like this where he could hold him?

“I love you so much,” Chanyeol said, his voice breaking as his tears fell harder.

And he could only think then of how the elder Kim never got to hug Mina anymore, and D.O. never got to hug his mother anymore, and every emotion he had throughout the day came out all at once as he cried over the tiny shoulder of his son.

“I love you too,” Taemin said. “Why are you crying? Is daddy hurt?”

“No,” Chanyeol managed to squeak out, and he realized he had to let go of his son before he scared him even further. “I’m sorry. I was very scared, and I wanted to see you and see that you were okay. And you are, so everything is fine now.”

“You were scared?”

“I had a bad dream,” Chanyeol lied in explanation, wiping the tears from his face and reaching out to hold his son’s hand as the little boy stood in front of him concerned. “But it was just a dream. Everything is okay now.”

“You sleep here tonight?” Taemin asked him. “No bad dreams.”

Chanyeol nodded and said, “I sleep here tonight. No bad dreams.”

“I’ll protect you, daddy,” Taemin said, leaning in to give him as big of a hug as he could give him, and Chanyeol held onto him, knowing that he would protect him in his own little way.

***

In the morning, Chanyeol’s mother had insisted that he eat breakfast before he went to the hospital to visit Jongin, but Chanyeol couldn’t eat. He had managed to fall asleep, more than likely because he knew his son was beside him where he would be as safe as possible for the time being, but he had woken up before his alarm, a nightmare retelling of the events of the day having startled him awake.

He instructed Junmyeon to stay home with his mother and father and keep an eye on things while he and D.O. headed to the hospital, but Junmyeon wouldn’t allow him to just go with D.O. alone.

“D.O. and I discussed things this morning,” Junmyeon told him, “And he says you need a real security guard to go with the both of you. So, you’re getting my bodyguard back as yours. Thank you for lending him to me for a bit.”

“You won’t need a bodyguard soon enough,” Chanyeol promised him, and he squeezed Junmyeon’s shoulder, thinking that maybe his advisor needed to feel support from him every now and then as well.

Both D.O. and his bodyguard were waiting by the car for him, and Chanyeol handed them both coffees to help them wake up as well.

“Sorry,” he said once they got into the car. “I know it’s early, but I couldn’t stop thinking about my cousin. I really need to see him.”

“It’s understandable,” D.O. said, as he sat beside him in the backseat while the security guard drove. “You didn’t sleep well I take it?”

“Better than I thought I would, but I got woken up by a nightmare, so no. How did you sleep?”

“I slept fine,” D.O. said.

“So, I’m back to having my original bodyguard thanks to you.”

“I’m not trained properly as a bodyguard,” D.O. explained. “A real bodyguard would have kept an eye out for anything that seemed off about the situation, and they would have noticed those cars coming before any of us did. That’s what they’re trained to do. Also, had we had a bodyguard with us, it would have provided enough cover for me to possibly take out all eight of them, and potentially before Jongin got hit.”

“I’m not gonna argue you on this,” Chanyeol let him know. “This is necessary for now. It’ll be temporary though. Once we bring this all to an end, we can go back to normal.”

“Normal means he’s still your bodyguard.”

“We’ll figure out normal later,” Chanyeol waved off, linking his fingers through D.O.’s where he had them resting on the space between them.

They sat like that for the duration of the ride, Chanyeol wishing it could be just the two of them so they could speak freely and touch each other carelessly as they learned more about each other.

But that version of normal would also have to wait a little longer.

They arrived at the hospital and greeted their own security that had stayed watch the whole night. Chanyeol’s security guard delivered the message to them that a new rotation would be replacing them soon so they could go home and rest.

When Chanyeol walked into Jongin’s room, he found a smile on his cousin’s face, even if he did seem a bit out of it.

“Well look who’s awake,” Chanyeol said with a smile as he walked to the side of his bed that Chrystal sat at, and Chanyeol looked at her and said, “Did you ever leave that chair the whole night?”

“I did,” Chrystal said with a soft smile. “We all got some sleep. Well maybe not your aunt, but everyone else.”

“I’m not sleeping until he’s home safe,” his aunt said, even crankier than the day before, but understandably so given the emotional turmoil she had experienced and her lack of sleep.

“Chanyeol,” Jongin finally said. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

“You’re glad I’m okay?” Chanyeol said. “I’m not the one that got hit.”

“But they were aiming at you,” Jongin pointed out, “So I’m glad you’re okay.”

“You really scared me,” Chanyeol told him.

“I’m fine,” Jongin assured him. “Not the first time I’ve been shot at.”

“I need you to remember how not to get hit again.”

Jongin smiled and then winced in pain as he pressed the button on his pain pump and winced again.

“Both arms hurt,” Jongin said. “Even pressing this button hurts.”

“I’m sorry,” Chanyeol said, and then he looked around the room and knew he was going to hear an earful for what he was about to say. “Can I have a moment alone with him? Just five minutes or so.”

“No, absolutely not,” Jongin’s mother said. “You are not going to bother him with business things while he’s recovering from your mistake.”

“Mom,” Jongin said, but Chanyeol told him not to worry.

“Five minutes,” Chanyeol told her. “Just five. I’m asking you nicely. Please.”

“Come on,” Jongin’s father said to her. “You could use a little walk yourself. You too,” he said to Chrystal, who leaned in to give Jongin a kiss on the cheek before telling him that she’d be right back.

Chanyeol was grateful to Jongin’s father for getting everyone out of the room, and D.O. made sure to close the door so no one could hear the conversation as he stayed beside it.

“What’s going on?” Jongin asked.

“Apparently Jongdae has a plan to bring this all to an end, but I’m a bit suspicious of his motives at the moment. I demoted Minseok because of it. I don’t want any Kim’s around us until I get to the bottom of whatever they’re hiding, or whatever they’re doing.”

“I understand,” Jongin said.

“Do you agree?”

“I can only give you the answer of someone who’s on a lot of pain medication right now,” he said, “So hopefully this makes sense. I trust Minseok. I think you need to promote him back up, especially while I’m not able to help right now.”

“You don’t think the Kim’s are up to anything weird?”

“You know Jongdae better than all of us. You’re going to have to make that call. I know Minseok better than you do, so I can only speak to him. I don’t think he’s up to anything weird. If that helps.”

“It does,” Chanyeol said. “Thank you for your honesty. I’ll let you rest now.”

“I’ll be good as new soon.”

“I know you will be.”

“Also, I’m proposing to Chrystal.”

“Oh,” Chanyeol said with a look of surprise. “When?”

“Today, when I’m more coherent.”

“You might want to think about that decision after the meds wear off,” Chanyeol told him with a soft laugh.

“No, I know it’s time. If anything, this is a sign. I’m going to marry her and then we’ll get started on giving Taemin some cousins that aren’t too far from his age. Kind of like us.”

“I’m sure Taemin will appreciate that.”

“I’m always looking out for the whole family. Even baby Park.”

“I know you are,” Chanyeol said, giving his leg a squeeze since he figured squeezing his hands would hurt his arms too much. “Get some rest. I’ll stop by later.”

Jongin smiled and closed his eyes, which had already been fighting the heaviness of exhaustion during their conversation.

D.O. opened the door and Chrystal walked in, explaining that Jongin’s father had managed to get Jongin’s mother to go for a small walk.

“I’m sorry,” Chanyeol said. “She’s probably driving you crazy.”

“I’m used to her brand of crazy,” Chrystal shrugged off with a tired smile. “Did he fall back asleep?”

“He did. I told him to get some rest. He actually listened.”

“It’s the anesthesia,” she explained as she went to stand beside him and look at him. “It hasn’t worn off completely yet.”

Chanyeol watched her watch Jongin for a moment, then he said, “I’m really sorry for not being smart enough to have prevented this.”

“He’s going to be fine,” she said looking at Chanyeol with an optimistic smile, and it made him think about how Jongin would be doing the same if the situation had been reversed. “And I know that you couldn’t have prevented this. You guys were ambushed. We’re lucky that the family is so strong to counter things like that.”

“We’ll get stronger before this is all over. That much I promise the both of you.”

Chrystal nodded, “I’ll take care of him. You go make good on that promise.”

Chanyeol smiled at her and gave her a nod back, leaving the room with D.O. and his bodyguard who had stayed outside on watch.

“So,” D.O. said as they waited for the elevator, “Have you changed your mind on the Kim’s?”

“I’m waiting to hear what Jongdae has to say today,” Chanyeol said, “But Jongin did make me feel a little better about Minseok at least. Jongin is a great judge of character. If he thinks Minseok’s alright, then he probably is. And Junmyeon thinks Yixing is alright, which is another plus.”

“Luhan’s a very good assassin, if that helps any,” D.O. offered and Chanyeol looked at him confused and then shook his head at the lame attempt at a joke, at least he thought it was a joke.

“Okay, well I’ll add that to the pros then,” Chanyeol said and D.O. smiled.

“It seems then that the issue really does lie with you not trusting Jongdae,” D.O. then said.

Chanyeol nodded and then just said “yeah,” more to himself, before stepping into the elevator.

He had to be objective about this and not let his personal feelings get in the way, but with his feelings in a state of disarray, that was going to be a hard feat to pull off before his meeting.


	11. (Waxing Gibbous)

When Jongdae got the news about the ambush, he felt his blood run cold and sat still, staring at Yixing in shock. Yixing had passed along the information from Junmyeon who said they were headed to the hospital and would report back to them, but all they knew as of that moment was that Jongin had been hit, but the other three appeared to be fine.

He hadn’t allowed himself to breathe just yet, knowing that until he saw Minseok safe at home, there were no guarantees. Yixing had helped him with his breathing exercises, and when Minseok called him to say that he was fine and heading home soon, it was only then that Jongdae could start to feel his mind and body return to normal.

As soon as Jongdae heard Minseok’s car drive up, he darted out the door and hugged his cousin tightly, pulling him in close.

“I’m okay,” Minseok told him, but Jongdae still held onto him and Minseok held him back and let him.

“Is everyone else okay now?” Jongdae finally asked when he let him go, placing his hand on Minseok’s back as they walked toward the door.

“Jongin’s gonna pull through,” Minseok confirmed. “Everyone else is okay.”

Jongdae was relieved to hear it.  

They walked into the house where Yixing pulled Minseok into a big hug, and then Jongdae’s mother took her turn, holding onto him tightly, clear that she had shed many tears from the moment she had heard the news.

“I’m having the kitchen make your favorite meal tonight,” she told him after her long embrace. “Your parents are on their way.”

“They need to stay home,” Minseok said. “It’s not safe for them to be out of the house.”

“I put security on them,” Jongdae informed him. “They’re going to stay here for the time being. As are other family members that we’ve contacted.”

Minseok did seem a little relieved to hear this. They accompanied him to his room in the house, which he didn’t tend to stay in much, having his own condo that he liked to hide out in to have his time alone.

Jongdae sat at the edge of his cousin’s bed as Minseok lay down in it, exhausted as he let out a very large breath.

“By the way,” Minseok said as he pulled his blanket up tight around him, “Chanyeol demoted me. I’m back to being solely-Kim security.”

“Why would he demote you?” Jongdae said confused. After what had just happened, that didn’t seem like the wisest choice.

“Because Chanyeol is upset that he doesn’t know how you know what you know, so he threw a hissy fit and demoted me for it.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Jongdae deadpanned.

“That guy’s always had issues,” Minseok said. “Either way, he wants to know how you figured out the Choi stuff, so you better come up with a good story.”

“Just pretend you were the one that did everything,” Yixing offered, standing at the foot of the bed with his arms crossed. “Tell him you spoke to the bartender and found out the missing pieces.”

“I shouldn’t have to do all this,” Jongdae sighed. “But I guess I should have been smarter about this. Obviously, Chanyeol’s not going to want to believe me for whatever reason.”

“Well Yixing’s idea is a good one. Whatever Baekhyun did, pretend you did it.”

“And you’ll get to do it tomorrow,” Yixing informed him, “since Junmyeon wants to set up a meeting with you and Chanyeol.”

“Oh yeah,” Minseok said. “I told him you had a plan.”

“It’s not a complete plan,” Jongdae said, wishing Minseok hadn’t told him quite yet. “And I still haven’t figured out the Choi factor completely.”

“Just share what you have so far,” Minseok said, struggling to keep his eyes open and yawning, “It’s better than what Chanyeol has, which is nothing.”

“Get some sleep,” Jongdae said, and he passed his hand over Minseok’s arm and gave his forearm a small squeeze before getting up from the bed.

Jongdae returned to his office with Yixing, upset with himself for not thinking to play things off in his meeting with Chanyeol as if he had done them. It would have been so simple to say that he had spoken to the bartender, or spoken to regulars who had insight. Why had he been so stupid? Or more like, he had been prideful. He wanted to throw it in Chanyeol’s face that he had been useful, and the idea that Chanyeol had been skeptical then just made Jongdae’s ego want to prove itself more.

He sighed and paced back and forth with his hands on his hips.

“You’re thinking about a lot,” Yixing observed.

“I hate when I do dumb things,” Jongdae said. “And I know, I’ve been doing a lot of dumb things for awhile now. Chanyeol brings out the worst in me and even when I think I have things under control, it turns out I’m redirecting my feelings to something else and it still comes out in a dumb way somehow.”

“You two have a lot of history,” Yixing pointed out. “It makes things difficult.”

“I just want to know why he acts this way with me,” Jongdae then admitted to his advisor. “I feel if I knew that much, then I’d know how to handle it all better.”

“When was the last time you saw each other before this year?”

“Graduation?” Jongdae shrugged, trying to remember. “We had stopped being friends by then, but we did congratulate each other and our parents made us take a picture together. That was pretty much it. I didn’t see him during the break after that, and then I started university and he went off to the military.”

“It doesn’t make sense,” Yixing agreed. “It could be that he was upset at having to take over and didn’t know how to act, and he didn’t know how to act with you since he hadn’t seen you in so long, so he just took out his own issues on you. Whatever the reason, it was unacceptable then, and it’s unacceptable now.”

“I guess I can finally ask him tomorrow since I have to go see him.”

Jongdae crossed his arms and stopped pacing, then sighed and looking at Yixing.

“You’re going to have to help me with this plan if I have to present it to the almighty Yeol tomorrow.”

“I will. And maybe when Minseok wakes up from his rest, he can help out as well.”

He didn’t want to burden Minseok too much with it after all he had been through, but knowing his cousin, he’d want to be in on it, maybe as a way to cope with all that had happened.  Jongdae sat at his desk and pulled up his laptop and began working out his plan.

***

For the first time since his mother had said their mandatory dinners weren’t necessary anymore, dinner was served in the dining room, Minseok’s family joining them along with Yixing and his father’s advisor. His mother appeared to be a in a better mood than she had been since Mina’s death and even invited Jongdae’s security to join them.

“Do you know what you should do?” Minseok’s mother said to Jongdae’s mother, “Re-decorate. Give the home a fresh new start. I could help if you’d want to.”

“I don’t know,” Jongdae’s mother said, assessing the sides that were on the table and asking the maid to bring more.

“I understand,” Minseok’s mother said, looking a bit helpless, but Jongdae thought it was the perfect thing for his mother to undertake.

“You should,” he said to her. “It could be a nice hobby for you now that you’re stuck at home all day.”

“I agree,” his father said, which Jongdae had not expected from the man who had been quietly eating at the head of the table.

“It doesn’t matter regardless,” Jongdae’s mother said dismissing the idea, “We do not have the money that we had before. I wouldn’t be able to really do it.”

“We still have money,” his father said.

“With less coming in,” his mother then pointed out, and Jongdae really hoped this didn’t turn into another one of their big fights considering how many guests were there with them. “We need to be frugal during these times, learning to live within our new means. What we should be assessing instead is what we need to be giving up, not incurring more costs.”

“I could give up my condo,” Yixing said, “If it would help matters. I don’t mind staying here in the home.”

“I mind, but I could give mine up too for the cause,” Minseok offered. “I figured it would just be a matter of time before our pay got cut and we started having less money put into our savings anyway.”

“You mind staying here?” Jongdae’s mother asked, looking almost saddened to hear this.

“No, not like that,” Minseok quickly covered. “I like staying here just fine and having my room here, but if I’m out having a good time with someone, I can’t really bring them back here. Sorry for the crude example,” he said, bowing his head respectfully to her and to his parents.

“Oh, of course,” Jongdae’s mother said, a small blush appearing on her cheeks. “A young man does need his privacy.”

“And he shouldn’t give up his private place,” Jongdae’s father then said. “Neither of you should. You will keep your condos. I did want to suggest a discussion with the Park family about paying security at the very least out of their own pocket since they are using them for their family’s benefit now.”

“That’s a good idea,” Minseok said.

“I can bring that up in my meeting with Chanyeol tomorrow. Just how in the hole are we?”

“That’s not a dinnertime discussion,” his father said.

Jongdae put his chopsticks down and scooted his chair back, “Then let’s go to your office.”

“We’re having dinner,” his mother said.

“I’m meeting with Chanyeol tomorrow morning,” Jongdae said. “I need to know what I’m dealing with. We can either discuss it over dinner, or take it to the office.”

“You should let your father handle that,” his mother then said. “Your father is still the one in charge, isn’t he?”

Jongdae traded looks with his father, who didn’t seem sure how to answer the question either.

“We are no longer a high family,” his father said, “No one is technically in charge anymore. I run our businesses still, but now I run them knowing that a large percentage of the money goes to the Park’s. From a financial perspective, I should be the one to meet with him.”

Jongdae closed his eyes to keep his family from seeing them roll instead.

“However,” his father then said, “Jongdae has stepped up and assumed a sort of leadership over the family. It is he that Chanyeol requested for tomorrow’s meeting, not myself. So it would appear that he is the one now in charge.”

“Is that wise?” Minseok’s father asked his brother. “We’ve all heard he’s doing better, but…”

“He’s doing much better,” Yixing stated before anyone could reply. “And I am confident with him leading us.”

“As am I,” Minseok said.

“He has the confidence of those working with him,” Jongdae’s father then said to his brother. “I believe in my son to lead this family.”

“Since when?” Jongdae asked, and the room went silent as the diners looked between him and his father.

“Let us talk in my office,” his father said, putting his napkin on his plate as he stood up from his seat.

***

It had been so long since Jongdae had stepped into his father’s office to have a conversation with just him, no advisors or security present, as his guard was instructed to wait outside by the door.

“Please, sit comfortably,” his father told him, motioning toward the chair across from his at the desk.

Jongdae thanked him and sat, wondering about this new version of his father that he still hadn’t gotten a feel for.

“I know you’ve been up to a lot lately,” his father said. “You volunteered to help Chanyeol?”

“I needed something to do,” Jongdae said, watching the older man. “I felt suspicious of the Choi family, and do you know what I discovered during my investigation?”

“What?” His father said, taking the bait.

“That you decided you were wrong in following the elder Park’s lead on being a father, and decided to take after the elder Choi’s cruel methods.”

His father’s eyes turned downcast for a moment and then he looked back at him. “When a father loses a child, they start to question if everything they’ve ever done was wrong. I felt that I did not prepare either of you properly for this life I had made for you both. I had the thought that I was wrong in thinking that loving you both and spoiling you would be enough. I then thought of how Minho had been raised by his father, in a way that I never agreed with, but in a way where he was on the perfect path to take over for his father when it was time, and I thought that I had no choice but to do the same with you now that your sister was gone. It was a mistake. And I am very regretful and very sorry. But in this way, I thought I wouldn’t have to suffer losing you as well. And yet, I lost you anyway, didn’t I?”

“Not entirely,” Jongdae said, feeling his father’s words affect him in a way he hadn’t anticipated. His chest hurt, believing what his father said and the earnestness of it for the first time in a long time. “I’m still here.”

“You don’t trust me anymore, and you’ve tried to kill yourself twice. I imagine I’ve lost you in more ways than one.”

“I don’t trust a lot of people anymore,” Jongdae said, “But I could trust you again if you’re being honest with me right now. And I didn’t try to kill myself twice. Just almost once. The first time I wasn’t really thinking about it. I was actually thinking about…” he paused for a moment, hating to think back to that day. “I was thinking about Mina. I was thinking about how she had at least died quickly and without experiencing too much pain because of the way she was hit and where she was hit. And I had started thinking about where I could shoot the young Wu so that it wasn’t painful for him either. But I obviously couldn’t explain all that to security or you at the time.”

“You had been thinking about taking out the young Wu even then?”

“I’ve been thinking about making the Wu family pay for what they did for a long time.”

“Is that still your goal?”

“Not right now,” Jongdae admitted. “Right now, my goal is to end this sudden war we’re in with the cops and possibly the Choi’s. After that, my goal is to make our family a high family again.  Once I take care of that, then I’ll revisit the idea of making the Wu’s pay and I’ll come up with a better plan for doing so.”

“Do you really think you can make us a high family again?”

“Yes,” Jongdae said. “I don’t know how yet. I don’t have a plan for that, but I’m working on it. I do know that when the time comes, I’ll need your help, and the help of your advisor, and our accountant, and basically everyone.”

“You’ll have it,” his father said. “I think everyone is aware that I failed in leading this family. If you can make our family rise from the ashes, then it is you that will be the head of this family, not I. But I have to ask, do you think you’re mentally fit to do so?”

“I pray for the day that I’m no longer asked that question,” Jongdae said with slight frustration in the sigh that accompanied it. “Here’s the thing,” he then said, feeling a floodgate open within him and letting out a lot of thoughts and feelings he had been keeping inside, “Up until Mina died, I was going to be a doctor. I was going to have a respectable profession, and do my three years of alternative service as a public health doctor and settle down with Yoona after giving her the wedding of her dreams and start a family and live a very respectable and honorable life. Now, I have to accept the fact that I’m going to be a career criminal, and because of my suicide attempt, I’m exempted from service, which means I now will never have honor among my peers, or anyone really. So, I have to figure out how to go forward in this new life that I hadn’t prepared for, already at a disadvantage because not only do the other heads of family look down upon me for how poorly I interacted with them while I was training under you, but also because they will not see me as someone that should be treated with honor. And I have to do this with a family that is no longer a high family and was about to be destroyed completely if the Parks’ hadn’t stepped in to save us.

“Am I mentally fit to take all that on to make this happen? Would anyone be? What this is, is a challenge. And it’s my challenge to undertake. You risked your oldest friendship and the stability that being partners with him provided to follow this dream of yours. You lost that dream. Mina had a dream to run this family after you. She lost that dream. Mom had a dream to have her children be happy and safe. She lost that dream. And guess who else in this family lost his dream?” He pointed to himself even though it was not necessary. “So, I’ve decided to take up the challenge. I have nothing else to lose now. I think I can do this, but I know I can’t do it alone, and I know I have Yixing and Minseok on my side, but it’s going to take a lot more than that to pull it off.”

“Why not go back to medical school and pick up your dream where you left off? We would support that,” his father began to say, but Jongdae cut him off.

“That part of me is gone now. I can’t go back to that. Not after everything that happened. I’m a very different person than I was then. I don’t have that confidence anymore, or that passion. Also, I’d be too worried about what’s happening with the family now to be able to devote myself back to it fully. I need to be here. I know that for sure. This is my new future, and I’ve accepted it.”

Jongdae could see the guilt in his father’s eyes, but then the older man nodded and said, “After this issue with the cops and Choi’s is taken care of, we will discuss your plans, and you will tell me what you need from me. I ruined your other dream. I will do whatever it takes to make sure your new one is successful.”

“I hope that’s true,” Jongdae said, “Actually, I guess we can test if that’s true now. In order to pull off the plan I have to take down the cops, I need the help of an outside resource.”

“What outside resource?”

“A freelance specialist of sorts,” Jongdae said, “We need to keep him off the books, but I need to be able to pay him. Can we set up a payment system for him similar to the one we use for our assassin?”

“But who is this person?”

“I can’t tell you. I can only tell you that we’ve checked him out and he’s not affiliated with any other family or the cops.”

“Is he trustworthy?”

“I doubt it,” Jongdae said honestly. “But he’s been helping us with other matters.”

“How did you find out about him?”

“We met him out at a bar. Minseok had met him first. Like I said, he’s been helpful, and we really need him for this new plan. Can we put him on our payroll the way we have our assassin on it?”

His father thought about it for a moment and then nodded, “I trust you. If you checked him out and said you’ll need him, then yes, of course.”

Jongdae wanted to hug him in relief, but instead he said, “Thank you. That means a lot. I’ll meet with the accountant and set it up.”

“I hope it helps,” his father said, “I suppose now we should go rejoin dinner before your mother becomes more upset.”

Jongdae agreed and stood up, then took a good look at his father.

“Are you going to be okay?” Jongdae asked him, not having thought to ask before because he had felt too bitter against him.

“I will be fine,” his father said. “You do not have to ever worry about me. I’m sorry I couldn’t be the father you needed me to be, but I will be the asset you need going forward.”

“I could probably use a father too,” Jongdae then said, looking into the older man’s eyes.

His father appeared moved by this, and said. “I love you. I am here for you, also as your father.”

Jongdae studied him for a moment and then did hug him like he wanted to, and was grateful when his father hugged him back and held him tight, telling him sorry several times once again.

***

In the morning, Jongdae had a brief meeting with his father and their accountant to get a true assessment of how their family was financially faring, then during breakfast, he, Yixing and Minseok had gone over what he had of the plan, trying to anticipate the questions that Chanyeol would throw at him to have answers ready.

By the time they arrived at the Park estate, Jongdae was feeling a bit confident, but very cautious. For all he knew, Chanyeol wouldn’t accept his explanations of how he knew what he knew, and then there’d be no progress made on anything. Jongdae knew that he had to keep his head together.

He entered the elder Park’s office and bowed in greeting to Chanyeol. Yixing, Minseok and one of his security guards did the same as they entered behind him then took their places.

“Have a seat,” Chanyeol said, motioning to the chair before him, and Jongdae figured that was as good of a start as any.

Jongdae sat and said, “Minseok told me that you don’t trust my intentions.”

“I’m just confused as to how you figured out everything that you figured out. It’s suspicious that you wouldn’t say.”

Jongdae nodded and looked over at Chanyeol’s advisor, and then to the other side at his assassin-turned-security guard, and then another man that Jongdae recognized as Chanyeol’s former security guard.

“How’s Jongin?” Jongdae then asked, turning his attention back to Chanyeol.

“He’s going to be fine,” Chanyeol said, looking at him a bit distrusting, maybe by the topic change.

“Good,” Jongdae nodded, and he meant it. “Well, I didn’t think I had to share with you my tactics because I didn’t see the point in you knowing, but since you won’t let this go, fine. I spoke with the bartender, obviously. Bartenders know everything. When I was done with him, I spoke to some regulars. Most of the conversations were boring.”

“Some random regular just told you that the Choi’s were in with the cops and hoping to take us down?”

“The bartender mentioned that Minho met with cops often at that bar and that that’s where Minho conducted a number of business affairs, including the ones with Ju-hyun. The regulars corroborated the story. Are you happy now?”

Chanyeol seemed to consider this and then looked at his advisor, which Jongdae had expected. His advisor seemed to give him a look that indicated it could be the truth, then Chanyeol turned his attention back to Jongdae.

“You couldn’t just share that?”

“Just out of curiosity. If someone else had come to you with the information I came to you with, would you have acted suspicious about it? Or is this just because it’s me?”

“It would have been suspicious regardless.”

“Really?”

“What are you implying?”

“Not implying. You know what I’m saying. I’ve been trying to figure out what I did to you that’s caused you to treat me like shit the moment you took over for your dad.”

Chanyeol seemed caught off guard by the statement and shook his head, “I know we got off to a bad start at our first meeting, but I haven’t been treating you like shit.”

“What would you call it?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t think I was treating you like anything.”

“Really?”

“Look, when I first took over for my dad, I didn’t know what I was doing. I was trying to handle his business. I didn’t have time to think about how I was supposed to be treating people.”

“Really?” Jongdae asked again. “Because you treated my father fine just days later.”

“Well that one was obvious. He’s older. He’s a high family elder. There’s a protocol for that.”

“Are you really going to sit there and pretend you didn’t treat me like shit the first time we had to interact?”

“Okay, you know what? I could have been nicer. But I was dealing with a lot. You know the whole my father almost dying thing? I’m sorry I wasn’t paying attention to your feelings.”

“Yeah, well, I was dealing with a lot too.”

“I didn’t know that at the time.”

“It shouldn’t have made a difference. Kind of like this thing now with you not trusting me. So again I ask, what the hell did I do to you?”

“You didn’t do anything,” Chanyeol said, and Jongdae could hear the frustration in his voice.  “We just got off to a bad start.”

“And we’ve stayed there apparently.”

Chanyeol stared at Jongdae and he stared back, waiting for him to give him any explanation.

“I just didn’t know what you wanted when you walked in here,” Chanyeol then said, still defensive, “I haven’t really trusted your family since you left ours. It wasn’t a right away kind of thing, I mean we were still friends, but the older we got, the weirder it all seemed. And then I forgot all about it when I left home, but when I had to take over, I didn’t know where my family stood with any family. So three weeks after my father gets hurt, you show up. I wasn’t going to treat you like a friend when you no longer were. I didn’t know what your family’s intentions were then, especially having taken so long to reach out after what had happened.”

“We had already reached out,” Jongdae pointed out to him. “We had sent flowers and well wishes, which was the most we could do after the attempt on my father’s life and having lost some of our best guards in the crossfire, never mind that we were also at war with the Wu family. And fuck you, Chanyeol. You have a lot of nerve bringing that up to use against us when you didn’t even come to Mina’s funeral.”

Chanyeol looked away and Jongdae knew he had maybe hit a nerve then. But it had been true. Jongdae hadn’t cared before the funeral about who would or wouldn’t show up. He knew his sister was loved, and that all her friends would attend, and all their family of course, but he hadn’t realized that the heads of the allied high families would attend as well out of respect for his father. When the elder Park showed up, however, he had come with his wife and Jongin, but Chanyeol was nowhere to be found. Chanyeol’s mother had reached out immediately to Jongdae’s and he remembered watching them cry into each other’s arms, which had been only one of the many scenes that day that had started to make Jongdae crumble further within himself.

Jongdae watched Chanyeol close his eyes for a moment and then open them and look back toward him, though not directly at him.

“I wanted to,” Chanyeol then said. “But I had another engagement at the time that I couldn’t get out of. I’m sorry I didn’t attend.”

“You never reached out to me,” Jongdae then said. “Even Minho, who I hadn’t spoken to since high school and was never really friends with, reached out to me. But you didn’t. So, I’m guessing whatever great injustice I did against you had already happened. Was it something in school?”

“I already said you didn’t do anything,” Chanyeol snapped. “Nothing happened. I just don’t trust your family, okay?”

“Okay, fine,” Jongdae said, feeling they had gone in circles enough on this topic. “Well if you don’t trust my family, then I’m not sure how we’re going to work together to bring this to an end.”

“I’m willing to listen to your plan,” Chanyeol said.

“How kind of you,” Jongdae remarked and then he leaned forward slightly, “So we were able to get in touch with our contact on the force.”

“What?” Chanyeol asked, and he looked at Minseok and said, “Why didn’t you report this to us?”

“You demoted me, remember?” Minseok said, and Jongdae had to smirk. “I’m only security for the Kim’s now, so I reported it to Jongdae.”

“Cute,” Chanyeol said looking back at Jongdae, visibly annoyed. “So, what did you find out?”

“First and foremost, that ambush obviously did not go the way they planned. The plan was to take you out, then follow that with an ambush on the elder Yoo. Now that’s been canceled while they regroup, so if we’re going to strike, it has to be now while their guns are down. They’re down eight men that were on the operation, there are only three other men on this, not including the detective in charge.”

“Is he the guy running the whole thing?”

“He’s the guy taking orders from the guy running the whole thing.”

“So, who’s running the whole thing?”

“The Commissioner General.”

Jongdae understood the expression on Chanyeol’s face, because it had been the same one on his when Minseok had told him that. It didn’t make sense that he would mastermind a plan that would put his daughter’s life in danger, unless, his daughter’s life had never been in danger. And that was the very realization that Jongdae knew Chanyeol had just had when his eyes widened.

“Fucking Choi’s,” Chanyeol said. “They’re totally in on this.”

“We still don’t know exactly to what extent,” Jongdae cautioned Chanyeol. “We’re still working on that. Whatever is going down, they are being protected from it, but their name is being included with all of ours to not bring any suspicion to them. As it is, the Choi’s are trying to get insight into how we’re handling this.”

“How so?”

“I received a phone call from Ju-hyun last night that I ignored,” Jongdae told him. He had thought it was strange timing on her part, but then he had realized that it was probably Minho who had told her to find out what she could about the situation from their perspective. “Her message said she had heard about what had happened and she wanted to make sure everyone was alright. Then she asked if I wanted to meet up with her for coffee, so they’re clearly attempting to assess damage.”

“Are you going to call her back?” Chanyeol asked.

“Yes,” Jongdae said. “A bit later today.”

“And what are you going to tell her?”

“That I’ll meet her for coffee tonight.”

“Do you think that’s a good idea?” Chanyeol asked, looking unsure.

“Of course it’s not a good idea.”

“Then why are you going to meet her tonight?”

“I’m not. I’m sending Minseok.”

Chanyeol’s eyes widened and he looked at Minseok for confirmation.

Minseok shrugged and said, “He told me to go do my thing, so I’m going to go do my thing.”

“Wait,” Chanyeol said, “You’re not going to hurt her, are you?”

“You definitely do not get to know my methods for how I do things,” Minseok told him, “And again, I don’t report shit to you. Just him,” he said nodding toward Jongdae.

“I don’t think this is a good idea,” Chanyeol said looking back at Jongdae.

“In case you haven’t realized,” Jongdae said, “We’re at war right now. Ju-hyun works for the Choi’s. Try and remember who the enemies are here.”

“Also, remember that Jongin is in the hospital because she reported back to the Choi’s that you have shitty security,” Minseok added.

Jongdae watched as Chanyeol rubbed his forehead for a moment, and then he sighed and looked back at Jongdae.

“So, is this part of the plan?”

“No, she conveniently helped us out by requesting to meet up,” Jongdae said, “So that’s a lucky break for us. My plan involves the cops, not the Choi’s. So now that we know what detective we’re dealing with, and we know that the Commissioner General is behind all this, all we need to do is two simple things – take them both out of the picture. I have a theory that the Commissioner General knows he’s running out of time because you have everything you need to expose him and his connections to the high families. Exposing the Commissioner General and getting him taken out of his position, is part two of the plan.”

“And part one?” Chanyeol asked.

“We have to shut the operation down, completely down, in a way where no one would start it up again, at least not for a long time. We have to get access to their files, evidence, every little thing they have that they wanted to use against us and destroy it all so the police don’t even think of pulling a stunt like this again for a very long time.”

“And how are you planning on us doing that?”

“Our contact can get us into the systems so we can destroy any digital information that they’ve collected to use against us.”

“You’re going to hack into the police force systems and destroy information,” Chanyeol repeated as if he needed to make sure this was what he had heard.

“It’s a good plan,” Minseok said.

“How long have they been collecting all this evidence against the high families? How much information are we looking at here?” Junmyeon asked Jongdae.

“Almost six years’ worth,” Jongdae informed him.

“What?” Chanyeol said, either stunned or disturbed by this. Jongdae couldn’t tell.

“They tried to assassinate our fathers because they thought, after six years, they were ready to pull this off,” Jongdae told him. “If we destroy all their evidence, then we know it will take them at least six years to rebuild again, and once the Commissioner General is exposed, chances are the new guy in charge isn’t even going to bother starting that investigation over for a while, if he bothers to start it again.”

“There’s an added factor here,” Junmyeon said, “They thought they could pull this off because they thought taking out your fathers would weaken both families.”

“The Park family,” Jongdae corrected for him. “You don’t have to be sensitive around us. We know what the situation was. We were a collateral family, and they knew we were already weak. They just wanted to make sure we were completely useless to your family.”

“And that’s the added factor I was getting at,” Junmyeon said. “They had no way of anticipating that Chanyeol would come through for the Park family, or that Minseok would come through for yours. They underestimated just how strong both of our families actually were, but now they know.” Junmyeon then looked at Chanyeol and said, “We’ve caught them off guard. Now is the time to strike while they’re trying to figure out how to fix their own situation.”

“I agree,” Yixing then said, speaking for the first time in the meeting.

Chanyeol rubbed the back of his head then looked over to his security for a moment and then back at Junmyeon and then back at Jongdae. “Let me discuss this today with my team and I’ll let you know what we decide.”

“Let me be clear about what you’re deciding,” Jongdae then said, “There are two options here. We’re going to go through with this plan on our end, so your two options are to help us out or not.”

“You’re not going through with a plan I didn’t authorize,” Chanyeol said, regaining his authoritative voice.

“You’re going to stop me?”

“I can put you back on lockdown faster than you can let out your next breath.”

“I could still pull it off. Without even leaving my bed.”

“I get that you don’t have a problem fucking things up for your own family, but you’re delusional if you think I’m going to let you do anything that puts my family in danger.”

“I’m trying to get your family out of danger,” Jongdae attempted to stress, not knowing why Chanyeol had to be difficult about everything. The plan was clear, and Jongdae really hoped it wasn’t Chanyeol’s pride against him making him not approve it right away.

“Your ways of going about that haven’t proven to be too successful.”

“Fine,” Jongdae said. “I’ll wait for your orders. But the longer we wait, the more time that gives them to regroup.”

“You’ll have an answer by today,” Chanyeol then said. “Minseok, you’ve been re-promoted. After you’re done with this thing tonight with Ju-hyun, you need to report your findings to me.”

Minseok didn’t answer, he just gave Chanyeol an unimpressed look.

“How convenient to demote and promote based on your mood swings,” Jongdae said instead. “It’s my operation and it was my orders. He’ll report his findings to me then he’ll share with you what you need to know.”

“Jongdae, you’re not in charge of anything,” Chanyeol felt the need to remind him.

“I’m in charge of this plan. You can’t pull it off without our contact and our resources.”

“Your contact is technically our contact right now. And what resources do you have?”

“Oh yeah, speaking of that,” Jongdae then brought up, “Since technically our security now falls under your control, we believe they should now be on your payroll instead of ours. With the extra money you’re pulling in from our businesses, it should be more than enough to cover it.”

“Okay, so you’re confirming you have no resources to pull off this plan of yours, right?”

“Are you putting them on your payroll or not?”

“Stop switching the subject.”

“It’s all the same subject.”

“Can I interject for a moment?” Junmyeon said, lifting his palm as if it would help stop the interaction occurring in front of him, and both Jongdae and Chanyeol gave him their attention. “There’s obviously a lot of tension between the two of you, and it’s really not helping us get anywhere. I think we need to end this meeting. Everyone should take a deep breath, go for a walk, eat something, take a nap, whatever it is the both of you need to do to clear your minds and really think about everything that’s been said here today. We’re not accomplishing anything with the two of you bickering like this.”

“I agree,” Yixing said giving Jongdae a look that he could only interpret as concern.

“Fine,” Chanyeol said, and then he looked toward Minseok, “You’re still promoted.”

“I reject the promotion,” Minseok said. “Until you agree to the plan. Then you’ll have to promote me anyway to carry out my part. Until then, I’m Kim security.”

“I’m so through with you,” Chanyeol said shaking his head in frustration and then he looked at Jongdae, “And your whole family. Just go.”

“With pleasure,” Jongdae said standing up and barely giving a short bow as he left.

Once they were in the car and had pulled out of the Park estate grounds, Minseok asked, “Did that go according to plan?”

“No,” Jongdae admitted with a loud sigh, then he took another breath and sighed again. “I don’t know what that was. I tried to keep control of my emotions and to keep my head straight, but… I don’t know what happened.”

“I don’t think you failed,” Yixing said. “I think you did a pretty good job with both those things given the circumstances.”

“Yeah, but he didn’t go for the plan,” Minseok pointed out.

“Yet,” Yixing reminded him. “They’ll have a meeting later. Junmyeon is on board with the plan, so he’ll advise him toward it.”

“You’ve done a great job working your magic on him,” Minseok complimented Yixing.

“I haven’t worked any magic,” Yixing said, humble and with a shy tint to his cheek. “He’s just a really good advisor. He listens and he thinks about things logically. When I had first told him the little bit about the plan that you allowed me to tell him, he asked a lot of good questions and weighed a lot of scenarios, without even knowing the full plan. He’s committed to bringing this all to an end.”

“He lost his father because of shit like this,” Minseok said. “I’m sure he doesn’t want to see that happen to anyone else in that family on his watch.”

“We’ve lost people too,” Jongdae stated. “And I don’t want to lose any others on my watch either, so we have to hope that he agrees to this, but if he doesn’t, we are going through with it regardless.”

“Understood,” Minseok said, and Yixing nodded as well.

Jongdae was glad to receive the confirmation from them, but he also knew that things would be much easier if he could have the full Park family resources to help him carry the plan out.  All he could do was sit and wait for Chanyeol to stop being annoying about the whole situation and finally come to his senses. Jongdae took another deep breath and let it out slowly as he leaned his head against the car window and stared out at the passing scenery.

***

Jongdae arrived at the dining room with Yixing and greeted his parents and aunt and uncle before taking his seat. He thanked the maid who poured water for him and waited for his father to take his first bite before he began eating his rice.

“Is my son not joining us tonight?” His uncle asked him.

“He’s busy on an assignment,” Jongdae stated. “Hopefully he’ll be home soon.”

“I hope he didn’t go alone,” Jongdae’s mother said. “You did send security with him, right?”

“He’s got a couple of people with him,” Jongdae assuaged her fears, knowing she was asking more probably for Minseok’s mother’s sake. “He’ll be fine.”

“I can’t wait for this all to be over,” his uncle said, and both his aunt and his mother agreed and spoke of how they wanted to live in peace once more.

Jongdae’s phone buzzed at him and he looked at the number to see that Chanyeol was calling him.

“Excuse me,” he said to those seated at the table, before he stood up and left the dining room to take the call.  He picked up and said, “What did you decide?”

“What did Minseok find out?” Chanyeol asked, and Jongdae already felt done with this conversation.

“I don’t know. He’s not back yet.”

Jongdae could hear Chanyeol’s frustrated sigh on the line.

“You can go forward with the plan, but we need to be completely in the loop.”

“You will be. I’m going to have to use some of your resources.”

“I figured. Since you don’t have your own.”

“Right, partially thanks to you,” Jongdae couldn’t help but to defend against the jab.

“Yeah, because I was trying to save your family after you almost single-handedly destroyed it.”

“There’s saving and then there’s teaching a lesson. If you were saving us, you wouldn’t be bleeding us dry.”

“Okay, we can look at it that way if you want,” Chanyeol conceded.

“That’s the only way to look at it. It’s what your father did too after we left. Pretended to be cool with it, said he was our ally, and never once helped us when we really needed it. It’s only fitting you’d follow in his footsteps.”

“Maybe your family should stop making stupid decisions that keep putting you in situations where you require help because you can’t handle it.”

“Maybe your family should get over the fact that we left yours.”

“That’d be easier to do if your family wasn’t right back where it started.”

Jongdae let out his own frustrated breath and rubbed his forehead when his second breath didn’t quite come out. His silence then prompted Chanyeol to speak again.

“Look,” Chanyeol said, “Let’s just get through this okay? We have one thing in common here, and it’s that we both want this over. Come by when you’ve heard from Minseok so we can go over the plan and put it in motion and end all this.”

“Yeah okay,” Jongdae said curtly.

“Give us a heads up when you’re on your way.”

“Okay,” Jongdae said, and then he hung up because he needed to find his breath again.

He had to keep it together, but something about what Chanyeol had said affected him more harshly than he had been prepared for. His family wasn’t back where they started, they were worse off. They had started in the good graces of the elder Park, beloved by the family as if they were very much part of it. Jongdae remembered as a kid feeling like the elder Park was like a second father to him, and Chanyeol’s mother being a second mother as well.

He had an odd memory return to him, of Chanyeol’s mother doting over Mina one day when they were still kids, insisting that she take her on a shopping trip. He remembered his own mother hadn’t liked the idea too much, but knowing her place, had given permission and told them to have fun.

When Mina had returned, she had been wearing a new dress and shoes, and she couldn’t stop showing off her purchases to both him and Chanyeol, neither of whom could feign any interest.

“Mama Park said she wishes she could have a daughter just like me,” Mina had bragged.

“She already has one,” Jongdae had joked, and Chanyeol had yelled at him in surprise and slapped him hard on the arm.

“Don’t hit my brother,” Mina had said laughing as she hit Chanyeol back on the arm in retaliation. “Anyways, I’m prettier than Chanyeol so that’s why she wishes I was her daughter instead of him.”

“Ah!” Chanyeol had yelled again, and knowing it wasn’t polite to hit a girl, he instead chose to throw a sock at her, which had made her screech and tell him that was gross.

In the car ride back to their own home, Mina had not stopped talking about all of the wonderful things that Mama Park had bought her.

“That was very kind of her,” his mother had said, though even as a child, Jongdae could tell from the look on her face that she didn’t quite think that was true.

“Too kind,” his father had remarked, but Jongdae hadn’t been quite sure what he had meant by that at the time.

It occurred to Jongdae now that it was moments like this that probably helped fuel his father’s desire to start his own family. He could only imagine how difficult it was to see someone else spoiling your child when you couldn’t do so in the same way.

“Are you okay?” Yixing asked him, and Jongdae focused on him and wondered how long he had been there with him.

“Yeah, everything’s fine,” Jongdae said shaking his memories away. “We got the go-ahead from Chanyeol.”

“That’s a relief,” Yixing said, and Jongdae nodded.

“I think I’m going to finish my dinner in my office,” Jongdae then said, not feeling social.

“Okay, so everything’s not fine,” Yixing interpreted.

“I just want to be ready for when Minseok calls.”

Yixing shook his head, however, and stepped closer to Jongdae so he could look him in the eyes.

“You were doing okay today,” Yixing observed. “It’s obvious you took a hit during that meeting with Chanyeol. What did he say that threw you off balance more now?”

“He always has more leverage than me,” Jongdae whined in confession. “I really can’t ever win against him.”

“You said he gave you the go-ahead. That’s a win. You need to focus right now, Dae. All the other things between you two is irrelevant. You guys aren’t friends anymore, so let it go. Focus on what you’re trying to do here. Your plan is now up and running. Breathe. Do what you’re ready to do.”

“Right. Focus.” Jongdae said to himself with a nod, and then his phone rang again and he looked at it to see that Minseok was finally calling.

***

Minseok and Baekhyun were already at Yixing’s favorite noodle place eating when Jongdae and Yixing arrived. Jongdae sat beside Baekhyun and looked at Minseok expectantly once he had settled in.

“So, what did you find out?” Jongdae asked.

“I’m still trying to process,” Minseok shaking his head. “This shit is crazier than we thought.”

“Start processing,” Yixing said as he grabbed Minseok’s chopsticks to eat some of his noodles.

Baekhyun offered his to Jongdae who shook his hand to decline, wanting to focus completely on Minseok.

“Ju-hyun was never trying to get information from Chanyeol.”

“What?” Baekhyun and Jongdae both said in surprise.

“It was a legitimate casual encounter,” Minseok explained. “She didn’t know who he was at first, but when he introduced himself, she figured it out. Her and Minho had had a huge fight that day, and she saw an opportunity with Chanyeol to get back at Minho. So, she spent the evening with him and told him things she shouldn’t have because she was upset with Minho.”

“Wait, back up,” Jongdae said, “Did she tell you what the fight was about?”

“That’s the best part of this story,” Minseok said. “As it turns out, Ju-hyun and Minho have been hooking up behind his girlfriend’s back.”

“Ah, that’s terrible,” Baekhyun said. “Does the girlfriend know?”

“That’s the other best part,” Minseok said, “Ju-hyun and Minho were together before, but he had to date Jin-ri because his father told him to as part of his strategy to have a hold over the Commissioner General.”

“Wait…” Yixing said, his eyes widening.

“Yep,” Minseok confirmed before Yixing could formulate his complete thought. “The Commissioner General isn’t the one pulling the strings after all. It turns out it’s the Choi’s, and he’s just a pawn in their attempt to take us all down so they can be the most powerful family.”

Jongdae felt rather justified, but also sick to hear this. To be betrayed by an ally was never a good feeling, especially one who had so much knowledge they could use against all the other families. He wished his instincts hadn’t been right.

“So, going back to her night with Chanyeol,” Minseok said. “Ju-hyun had let Minho know that she had hooked up with Chanyeol, and Minho hadn’t liked it, and they got into another huge fight, but then Minho asked her to tell her everything they had talked about. Then later, after Chanyeol had paid the elder Choi a visit, and the Choi’s learned that he suddenly knew about their connection to the Commissioner General, Minho had to confess that it was Ju-hyun that had told Chanyeol. Needless to say, the elder Choi gave Minho one simple command – to get rid of Ju-hyun.”

“As in never see her again?” Yixing tried, but deep down inside, he must have known, like the rest of the table, what the elder Choi had meant.

“As in kill her,” Minseok confirmed. “But it seems Minho still has feelings for her, because he couldn’t do it. So instead he put her to work. He told her that if she wanted to act like a whore, then that’s what she would be from now on, so he ordered her to seek out the young Kang. She was attempting to find out their family’s weaknesses to see if they could try another attempt on them after we foiled the first one. Next up was going to be the young Yoo, but then you showed up to the bar. Minho gave her a signal that night to find out what she could from you, so that’s why she got you alone to talk. You weren’t originally on their list due to us losing our status and all, but they figured since the opportunity presented itself, why not take advantage.”

“Joke was on them,” Jongdae remarked and Minseok nodded.

“Yeah, she’s definitely regretting running into you now,” Minseok confirmed. “Anyway, after their plan to kill Chanyeol backfired, Minho sent her to find out what she could, but she’s not stupid. She was very aware that he was probably sending her to her death since we’d be on high alert right now. She was very forthcoming with information after I told her I wasn’t going to go easy on her.”

“Where is she now?” Jongdae asked.

“I’ve got security watching her. I figured we’d keep her hostage for now in case we need any more information from her.”

“So, this changes the plan a bit,” Jongdae said. “Do we need to expose the Commissioner General if he’s just a pawn?”

“No. I’m pretty sure the Choi’s are going to take care of him now that everything is going down,” Minseok said.

“What about his daughter?” Yixing asked. “She’s probably in a lot of danger right now too.”

“If they’ve been using her to keep him in line,” Baekhyun said, “Then they’ve probably threatened to kill her already.”

“Okay,” Jongdae said, “We’ll add saving Jin-ri to the plan.”

“It’s not really our concern,” Minseok pointed out.

“I don’t see this ending without lives lost now that we know the Choi’s are behind it,” Jongdae said. “We can get her out of the situation before it all goes to hell.”

“I think you’re losing focus,” Minseok said. “We need to bring down this operation and take the Choi’s out. It’s every person for themselves on their side.”

“We only have Ju-hyun’s point of view on this,” Yixing said, “How do we know that Minho didn’t actually fall in love with Jin-ri in all this time and just kept lying to Ju-hyun about his feelings for her?”

“I don’t give a shit about Minho’s love life,” Minseok said. “What we know is that the Choi’s are behind this and we need a plan to take them out. Focus, people.”

“I think we can stick with the original plan then,” Jongdae stated. “Let’s take out the operation and all the evidence, and let the Choi’s handle the Commissioner General. In the meantime, the Park’s can attack the Choi’s. They have the manpower for it.”

“I was thinking,” Minseok said, “That we should maybe keep a copy of all the evidence for ourselves. There’s a lot of info about the other families in there. We can use that to our advantage when rebuilding.”

“I agree,” Jongdae said, and he looked at Baekhyun, “Would you be able to do that before deleting everything?”

“Yeah, no problem,” Baekhyun said.

“Okay, so while you do that,” Jongdae told him, “We’ll have Luhan and the Park assassins in position to take out the lead detective and the three cops left that belong to the Choi’s. We can put Chanyeol’s assassin-turned-bodyguard to take out the lead detective, since legend has it that he never misses.”

“He doesn’t,” Baekhyun said, and then when everyone looked at him, he added. “Everyone knows that.”

“Either way,” Minseok said, “According to Ju-hyun, they’re all meeting with the Choi’s before dawn, probably to regroup. Since they’ll all be together, it shouldn’t be hard for the assassins to get them all down.”

“Once I delete the files, my part will be done,” Baekhyun said, “I could take on the task of saving Jin-ri if you want.”

“That could work,” Jongdae said.

“How would you do it?” Minseok asked.

“I’m not sure yet,” Baekhyun said. “I’ll have to do some research on her locations.”

“Well you don’t have much time,” Jongdae said. “We have approval, so we need to meet with Chanyeol quick and get everything ready.”

“I’ll know enough by the time we’re ready,” Baekhyun said and then he looked at Minseok, “Do you want her as another hostage, or do you want me to take her someplace safe?”

“Let’s take her as a hostage too for now,” Minseok nodded. “I’ll let you know where to take her. Ju-hyun will probably like the company. Though maybe not that company.”

“You’re kind of evil,” Yixing said.

“Only kind of,” Minseok agreed.

“Okay, let’s head to Chanyeol’s and work this out,” Jongdae said.

“I’ll go and get started on the files,” Baekhyun said.

Jongdae felt excitement flow through him, both in anticipation of their plan coming to fruition and in relief they were finally going to make this all go away. He finally ate the rest of Baekhyun’s noodles as Yixing finished off Minseok’s before they headed back to the Park estate.


	12. (Two Moons)

“I really wish you hadn’t volunteered to save Jin-ri,” Kyungsoo said to Baekhyun as he put clothes away from the laundry basket Baekhyun had left for him on his bed.

Baekhyun, who had already put away his portion of the clothing, relaxed on Kyungsoo’s bed and tapped away on his laptop as they spoke.

“I could tell Jongdae really wanted to save her,” Baekhyun explained, “I thought it’d be nice to do it for him. It’ll be fine.”

“It puts you right in the middle of the Choi’s,” Kyungsoo pointed out, “You have to promise me that if anything seems off, you’ll abandon the plan and get out of there.”

“Stop worrying,” Baekhyun waved off, “I’m more worried about you.”

“All I have to do is take out the lead detective,” Kyungsoo stated.

“Yeah, also right in the middle of the Choi’s. You have to get out of there as soon as you’re done.”

“I’m not leaving if the other assassins need help in taking out the targets. The quicker we get them down, the quicker we can all get out of there.”

“We’re so bad at not volunteering,” Baekhyun lamented with a sigh.

“We’re so bad at a lot of things,” he said, hanging up his last shirt and sitting on his bed to face Baekhyun. “I shouldn’t have gotten involved with Chanyeol.”

“Why do you say that?” Baekhyun looked up from his laptop, perhaps sensing this was not a throwaway comment.

“What happened to Jongin was my fault.”

“Kyungsoo…”

“I know. I know. You’re going to tell me I can’t blame myself for that, but lack of information is just as harmful as lying. Chanyeol’s right to be suspicious of Jongdae with the way he’s acting, and I so badly want to reassure him and tell him that he doesn’t have to worry, but I can’t do that without making him suspicious. But if I had told him more information earlier, he would have made us take more security with us. Especially considering I’m too distracted by him to do the job right.”

“Says the guy who literally saved his life and took out six cops on his own,” Baekhyun said, reaching his hand out to squeeze Kyungsoo’s knee. “This isn’t your fault. And I wish Chanyeol would loosen up about Jongdae, but I understand why he hasn’t.”

“He’s not convinced about the plan, or Jongdae’s motives,” Kyungsoo said, thinking about how stressed Chanyeol had been while dealing with all this. “But Junmyeon supports it and he trusts his advisor so he’s going along with it. He doesn’t think Jongdae can pull this off.”

“That’s stupid. Of course, he can pull this off.”

“That’s because we know more about it than Chanyeol does. Which makes me think that Junmyeon knows about more about it than Chanyeol does as well.”

Baekhyun looked at Kyungsoo surprised, then said, “Do you think he knows about us?”

“No, but it’s his job to observe, take note of what he sees and figure things out. It’s hard to tell what he’s thinking, but I’ve noticed him pay attention to what I say and my actions.”

“Hm,” Baekhyun said, tapping a finger to his chin as he seemed to think about this. “Well, you getting involved with Chanyeol did complicate things, but I don’t think you shouldn’t have done it. Sometimes when you’re working a job, you find something you weren’t looking for. Like a roommate.” He gave Kyungsoo a big toothy grin.

“Yeah, but the difference is I don’t hide things from you. Whereas I’m hiding this really big thing from him. It just feels wrong all of a sudden. More so because of what happened to Jongin.”

They both fell silent for a portion of time, Baekhyun looking down at his laptop and Kyungsoo staring out the dark window but only seeing his own reflection against the night.

“Just give me a heads up when you decide you want to tell him,” Baekhyun finally said with a sigh. “I’ll have to tell Jongdae, and that’s not going to end well.”

“I don’t think telling Chanyeol will end well either,” Kyungsoo pointed out.

“Maybe not at first, but Chanyeol does care about you, and you can make him understand,” Baekhyun told him with a supportive nod.

“Why did I get attached?”

“I don’t know,” Baekhyun shrugged. “Maybe you just finally met someone that you thought was worth getting attached to.”

“That’s stupid. I know better.”

“I’m going to miss Jongdae,” Baekhyun then said with a soft sigh as he thought about it. “I mean, I know we’re not close, and we were never going to be under the circumstances. But in another life, if we had met in another way, and our situation was completely different, I think we could have been really good friends.”

Kyungsoo closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath thinking none of this was fair. But he hated lying to Chanyeol and not being completely honest with him. The more feelings he developed for him, the more it stung to not share things as simple as where he lived or how he knew to trust Jongdae.

“This is such a mess,” Kyungsoo said, running his hand through his hair. “The moment we told them the cops were behind it, we should have cut ties and let them figure it out on their own.”

“You were already starting to have feelings for Chanyeol by then,” Baekhyun pointed out with a wag of his finger. “There was no going back for you. It is what it is, Soo. Don’t worry too much about it. We’ve both survived a lot in our lives. We’ll survive this too.”

“Let’s not bother thinking about it until after this operation is done. We’re going through with it and that’s all we need Chanyeol to know right now,” he said with a nod to himself, as if he needed to assure himself of his decision.

“Like I said, just give me a heads up,” Baekhyun said and then sat up straight as something beeped at him on his phone. “Ah, looks like Jin-ri is at the Choi’s after all.”

“How do you know?”

“After my meeting with the Kim’s, I called the bartender and asked if she had been stopping by lately. Come to find out, she was at the bar. So, I got there as quick as I could and convinced one of the servers to drop a tracker in her purse. I thought I’d miss her because I had to come home first to get it. But luckily she was still there.”

“So, we’ll both be at the Choi’s before dawn cursing ourselves for volunteering.”

“It’ll be fine,” Baekhyun said, throwing him a smile.

“As annoying as I’m sure you’ll be on that laptop all night, you should still probably stay here and take a nap before we have to get started,” Kyungsoo said, getting up from the bed.

“Oh, you thought I was going to get back up and go to my room after I got this comfortable on your bed already?”

“Shut up,” Kyungsoo said, hitting the bottom of his feet lightly with the empty laundry basket before placing it on the floor by the bed.

He flipped the light switch and used the illumination of Baekhyun’s laptop to make his way back, crawling in and thinking about what his best friend had said.

They really had gone through worse, and losing Chanyeol after telling him the truth wouldn’t be the worst thing to happen to him. But still, the idea of losing these new emotions and feelings, and the raw happiness that he had never quite felt before, made Kyungsoo a bit sad. He needed to hold onto those things a little longer, just in case he really was about to lose it all. And he also wanted Baekhyun to hold onto the happiness he felt every time he interacted with Jongdae for a bit longer. After everything they both had ever been through, he strongly felt that they both deserved at least that for now.


	13. (Waning Crescent)

Chanyeol tried to take a power nap before dealing with Jongdae and putting the plan into action, but he had been too restless and had too much on his mind, so instead he made his way to the den where he found his father watching a children’s cartoon with Taemin. Chanyeol took in the sight for the moment, feeling warmth at seeing Taemin sitting curled up to his grandfather as he explained something about the show to the older man.

“I see,” Chanyeol’s father said. “He’s not going to like the apple then?”

“No apple,” Taemin said shaking his head, and then he pointed and laughed as the cartoon character reacted badly at the sight of the apple that had fallen in front of him.

“This cartoon is weird,” Chanyeol said, with an apologetic smile to his father. “I’m sorry you have to suffer through it.”

“It’s fine. It’s very amusing.”

“It doesn’t make sense. It never makes sense when I sit and watch it with him.”

Chanyeol ruffled Taemin’s hair, who sensed he was about to be told it was bedtime. The young boy made a face and curled farther into his grandfather’s side.

“Nice try,” Chanyeol told him. “I already called Anya over to take you to bed, but if you’re nice about it, she might let you stop by the kitchen to get some hot cocoa first.”

“I want hot cocoa and stay here. It’s too early for bed.”

“It’s time for bed, and I have to talk to your grandfather for a little bit, okay?”

“I talk to him.”

Anya came in and Taemin shook his head, ready to throw a fit.

“We can watch more tomorrow,” Chanyeol’s father said to try and help the situation. “You need to get good sleep so you don’t fall asleep watching it with me.”

“I sleep here?”

Chanyeol looked at Anya for help. Among the many things he was mentally dealing with right now, this was something he couldn’t handle at the moment.

Anya understood and leaned down to pick Taemin up, who immediately started screeching.

Chanyeol sat at the edge of the couch and tucked his long leg under the other as he faced his father.

“You should be getting some sleep too,” his father told him.

“I can’t. I tried. It’s not working. I don’t know if I made the right decision in going forward with this.”

“You have to trust your gut instincts.”

“What would you have done?”

“You act as if I didn’t second guess every decision I ever made for this family. I lost a lot of sleep too. What I would have done is trust my instinct. It’s all you can do in situations like this.”

“When I took your place while you recovered, I didn’t anticipate getting stuck in a war or having to deal with any of this. This is exactly what I was trying to escape.”

“Do you understand that you can’t escape it? I am so sorry that you hate this world you were brought up in, but this is your reality. As long as we remain the most powerful high family, there will always be someone trying to take us down. It’s the nature of what we do. You could move away to a faraway country, and if it meant bringing the family down, someone would find you. This is why we have security.”

Chanyeol knew this, now more than ever this had sunk in, and he hated it. It made him think about what Kyungsoo had told him that one time, about how no one chose their situation, but everyone just had to make the best of their circumstances. He had a lot more to work with than Kyungsoo had, which meant Chanyeol had no real excuses to not accept his situation and do the best he could in it. Jongin had seemed to figure that out early on, and he didn’t just do his best in it, he thrived, even knowing that he would never be chosen to run the family.

“You’ve gone very quiet on me,” his father said, taking Chanyeol out of his thoughts.

He switched the topic.

“I think I would feel more confident about all this if Jongdae wasn’t spearheading the operation. The way he’s acting is so erratic, and he just doesn’t have the mental stability to make me trust him right now.”

“You can take the lead on the operation, you know?” His father told him. “If you don’t think he can handle it, just take it over. The power is in your hands, not his.”

“I’m really scared that he’s going to do something stupid and make us lose a lot of lives. I want this mess over. I want us to do what we have to do and bring everyone home safe and uninjured. For him though, I think this whole thing is him trying to prove a point. Like he’s using this to try and prove that he’s fine and able to run things, which I feel is just going to get everyone killed because his head is in the wrong place.”

“Then take the reins from him. You hold the Kim family’s fate in your hands. They answer to you. You owe them nothing.”

Chanyeol could only imagine what he’d have to deal with from the Kim’s if he tried to take the reins. But he was adamant about the fact that he didn’t want to lose anyone, and he didn’t want the Kim’s to lose anyone either. The entire plan scared him, especially knowing that D.O. would be in the middle of the chaos and in great danger during it. If anything happened to him, Chanyeol was certain he’d hold Jongdae responsible and make him pay for it himself.

One of the security guards came into the room, bowing respectfully and apologizing for the interruption.

“The Kim’s are here,” he announced.

“Take them to the office,” Chanyeol ordered, and then he looked back at his father, who reached out to squeeze Chanyeol’s shoulder.

“You’re in charge,” he said again. “Don’t forget that. Trust your instincts.”

Chanyeol nodded and thanked him, collecting his thoughts as he stood up to leave his father to watch the ridiculous cartoon on his own.

***

Chanyeol listened to Jongdae go over the entire operation that he’d be running, and when he finished, Junmyeon spoke.

“Is it possible to get a copy of the files before they’re deleted?”

“Well, not anymore. They’ve already been deleted.”

Chanyeol frowned and said, “You said it’s the first part of the plan, so how have they already been deleted?”

“You gave us the go ahead for the operation, so I gave the go ahead for the files to be deleted.”

There was a moment of silence, and Chanyeol felt a silent ire wash over him at Jongdae’s nonchalance at starting the operation before meeting with him.

“You started the operation without us,” Chanyeol said. It was not a question.

Jongdae seemed to have sensed that he may have crossed a line, and Chanyeol watched as his face showed him thinking through his response.

“It was just that part. I thought we’d move things along so we can focus on the harder stuff.”

Chanyeol shook his head and knew that he had to take the reins on this. Every action Jongdae took and every word he spoke stressed him out too much to properly focus on doing this right.

“For the safety of my team, and yours, I’m going to be handling both operations from now on,” Chanyeol declared.

“You can’t handle my operation.”

“I’m not going to argue with you on this. What I needed was for you to come in here ready to work together so we can end this. Instead, you came in here with no intentions of working together. I have too many people out there that I care about to let your ego put them in more danger than they already are.”

“I’m the one with the ego?”

“Right now? Yes. We’ll take it from here. You’re more than welcome to stay if you like, but I’m calling the shots.”

Jongdae began to protest, but Yixing put his hand on Jongdae’s shoulder to calm him and told him in a barely audible voice that Chanyeol still managed to overhear, “Just stay and give your input when needed. Don’t make it worse.”

Jongdae held his tongue, but his face showed a mixture of betrayal and disappointment.

“Okay, let’s see where everyone is,” Chanyeol said turning on the receiver and putting the transmission on speaker. He started with the assassins, since they’d be the first ones on Choi property. “A Team check in. Are you in position?”

As part of Jongdae’s plan, each person that would be checking in or in charge of carrying out part of the operation had been assigned a number for transmission. Junmyeon had written them down and Chanyeol glanced to see that D.O. had chosen the number 12. He anticipated hearing the number.

“7 in position,” came the voice of the Kim’s assassin first. And then, “12 in position” and “14 in position” followed.

“Okay,” Chanyeol said, “Do you have clear shots?”

“I have a clear shot of my target, but there are other people in the room outside of our initial targets,” their lead assassin replied, “How do you want to proceed?”

Chanyeol exchanged a look with Junmyeon, and Junmyeon mouthed to him, “How many other people?”

“14, how many other people are in the room?” Chanyeol asked.

There was a moment and what seemed like a faint discussion over the transmitter between the other assassins that passed.

“About eight other people,” their lead assassin said, “including the elder Choi, the young Choi, their advisor, and heads of security.”

“14, standby,” Chanyeol said, and he put the receiver on mute. “Do you think they could take out all 12?” He asked Junmyeon.

“I think they should try,” Jongdae interjected.

“It’s risky,” Junmyeon said, “Once those first shots hit, everyone in that room is going to scramble and start firing toward the direction the shots came from.”

“I agree,” Chanyeol said. “We need to move the B Team in earlier so they can distract from the assassins.”

“That’s not the plan,” Jongdae said. “We can’t move B Team in earlier.”

“You heard the situation,” Chanyeol said. “We have eyes and ears at the scene. Plans change based upon new information.”

“Yeah but…” Jongdae stopped himself, and genuinely looked concerned, which made Chanyeol suspicious all over again.

“Is there something you forgot to tell us that would be impacted by this change?”

“No,” he said and did not follow up his answer with further words.

Chanyeol looked at him for a moment, then unmuted the receiver.

“New plan,” he announced. “B Team, we need you to move in first. Give a heads up when you’re ten minutes from position.”

“Copy,” said the lead security for the Park family.

“A Team, B Team is moving into position. How quick can you take out the targets once they’re alerted?”

“We can take them out right away,” their lead assassin confirmed, and Chanyeol nodded at Junmyeon who nodded back.

“That’s the new plan then. Once B Team moves in, open fire.”

“Copy,” their lead assassin said.

Chanyeol went to put them on mute, but Jongdae grabbed Chanyeol’s hand in one motion and said, “4, abandon plan and get out of there,” and then he pressed the mute button for Chanyeol.

The glare Chanyeol sent Jongdae was felt even by Yixing who looked at his boss with mild fright.

“61, confirm new order?” His lead security sounded confused as he asked Chanyeol for confirmation.

Chanyeol did not stop glaring at Jongdae as he pressed the button to unmute.

“35, keep your order. 21 canceled an additional order that has nothing to do with our main operation. Team A and Team B, continue with plan.”

“Copy,” the lead security said.

“Copy,” their lead assassin said.

Chanyeol pressed mute and stared at Jongdae who looked apologetic, but not apologetic enough in Chanyeol’s mind.

“I’m going to kill you,” Chanyeol told him with a steady voice.

“That was the only one, I swear,” Jongdae said, raising his hands defensively.

“If I lose a single person in this operation tonight,” Chanyeol warned him. “I am holding you personally responsible.”

Jongdae said nothing, and Chanyeol did know Jongdae well enough to interpret the look on his face as that of having screwed up.

Tension filled the office as silence fell while waiting for the B Team to confirm their new position.

“I want to point out that whoever 4 is,” Junmyeon said, “They didn’t copy their new instruction.”

Chanyeol looked at Jongdae who lifted his head from where he had dropped it in his hands while they had been waiting.

“Who is 4? What was the side operation?” Chanyeol asked him.

“He’s just one of ours,” Jongdae said.

“And what were you having him do?” Chanyeol asked, his patience long beyond thin.

“He was supposed to go in and save Jin-ri.”

“Who’s Jin-ri again?”

“Minho’s girlfriend.”

“Why are you saving her?”

“Because she was an innocent pawn in all of this, so we were going to try and get her out of there before she got killed in the process.”

Chanyeol really was going to kill him.

“Jongdae, I want you to carefully hear the words that are about to come out of my mouth. You decided to send one of your own, into the crossfire, to save someone that it doesn’t matter for us to save. And now you almost compromised the whole operation for a stupid side operation of, again, saving someone that it doesn’t matter for us to save. How the fuck did you get into medical school being this stupid?”

“With the original plan…”

“Just shut up.”

Jongdae did, and Chanyeol considered sending him out of the office altogether, but unfortunately, he might have more information as they went along.

“61,” the Park lead security’s voice said through the receiver, “We’re ten minutes from position.”

“Copy,” Chanyeol said, then “4, confirm that you understood your new instructions to abandon the side plan.”

He waited a moment and heard nothing, throwing another deadly glare at Jongdae, now stuck in a position where he had to wait for this random person to confirm before he could proceed. He was going to kill Jongdae in the most painful way he knew how.

“4 here,” the unfamiliar voice said, and it was a bit difficult to hear him so Chanyeol leaned closer to the receiver. “I can’t abandon the plan. I’m already inside the house.”

“Fuck,” Chanyeol said, and he looked over at Jongdae who looked terrified at the receiver.

“How did he get inside the house?” Junmyeon asked shocked.

“Oh shit,” Jongdae said, his hand now on his forehead. “This is not good. Maybe let him get out of there first?”

“61,” the Park assassin’s voice came through loud and clear, “It looks like they’re wrapping up this meeting. We’re going to have to act soon.”

Chanyeol felt as if his blood had turned to ice, and his stomach flipped several times.

“B Team, get in position and be ready to open fire when I say. Let me know when you get there.”

“Copy,” the lead security said.

“A Team, hold tight a little longer, but keep me updated.”

“Copy,” the lead assassin said.

Chanyeol’s heart was beating so fast that he had to put his hand over it and press against it, hoping to help him calm down. He didn’t want the assassins to fire before the other team got there. That was almost certain suicide for them.

“4, hide and lay low until this is over,” Chanyeol then told the unexpected house guest.

“Copy,” the man said, again barely audible.

Chanyeol could hear Jongdae taking deep breaths and he looked over to see Yixing rubbing Jongdae’s back and telling him to count as he breathed.

“Is he okay?” Junmyeon asked Yixing.

“He just needs to breathe,” Yixing stated. “Maybe we should get you some fresh air,” he then said to Jongdae.

“I can’t,” Jongdae said, his voice ragged, and he gasped for another breath. “I did this. This is my fault. I have to stay and help.”

“61,” the lead assassin’s voice came through, “There’s a lot of movement in the room and people are preparing to leave.”

“Damn it,” Chanyeol said to himself, and then pressed the button on the receiver. “35, please tell me you’re in position.”

“About another five minutes.”

“That’s too long,” the lead assassin said.

Chanyeol wanted to yell at the top of his lungs. He did not sign up for this when he took over for his father, and he now regretted feeling obligated to do so. If he gave the assassins the go ahead, then they would give themselves away and become immediate targets, but if he didn’t, they’d possibly lose out on taking out the four people they most needed to take out in order to remove all traces of information that was being compiled against them.

“They just need a distraction,” Jongdae managed to get out as he breathed rapidly. “Tell 4 that when you give the assassins the go ahead, to create one that will take their attention off the assassins.”

“4 is hiding. What kind of distraction is he going to make happen?” Chanyeol said, wishing he had something to throw at him.

“He can do it,” Jongdae said, who looked over at Yixing for help.

“He can do it,” Yixing stated, Chanyeol supposed in agreement.

“You must really hate whoever this 4 person is,” Chanyeol said. “First you send him into the lion’s den while full of lions, and now you’re asking him to expose himself to the elements to distract them from the assassins. You’re going to get this person killed.”

“He’s very skilled,” Jongdae said. “Trust me on this please.”

“Trust you?” Chanyeol asked.

“61, they’re starting to leave,” the lead assassin said.

“We’re almost there,” the lead security informed.

Chanyeol knew he was out of time. He had to use his gut instincts, but at the moment, his gut instincts were telling him to call the whole thing off before he lost three assassins and a random guy that Jongdae had sent to his death.

And yet they were so close. They were almost completely in position. They could do this. He believed in his assassin team. He believed in his security team. He believed in the Kim’s security team.

He did not, however, believe in Jongdae, but if Jongdae had no issues sending one of his own to their death, then he wouldn’t either.

“4,” Chanyeol addressed as he hit the button. “When I give the go-ahead to Team A, I need you to create a diversion to get the attention off them. Copy?”

Each second that passed as he waited for a response felt like hours of anxiety.

“Copy. I’ll create a diversion when you give the go-ahead.”

“I hope you’re ready because I’m doing that now. Team A, you’re free to fire at will.”

“Copy,” the lead assassin said.

“61, we just arrived,” their lead security said. “We’re getting into position now.”

“Get into position and start firing,” Chanyeol instructed.

And then there was silence. Nothing but silence.

Until Jongdae bent over and let out a broken wail, which sprung Yixing to his feet as he crouched in front of him, telling him again to breathe, breathe, breathe.

“Does he need a doctor?” Junmyeon asked.

“Maybe,” Yixing said, “This is a pretty bad one.”

“Wait,” Chanyeol said, his brows furling in confusion, “Is this something that’s happened before?”

“Dae, this is almost over, okay?” Yixing said to him. “Look at me. This is going to be okay. Chanyeol is taking care of everything. You can breathe. It’s going to be fine. They’re almost done.”

Chanyeol looked over at Junmyeon who stared at the scene in a similar type of fascination and concern.

“It’s almost done,” Jongdae said to himself, taking a deep breath and nodding.

“Right. And we’re going to see Minseok soon and tell him he did a great job. You want to keep it together for Minseok, right?”

“Yeah,” Jongdae said nodding.

“Good, let’s count.”

Chanyeol had no idea what he was watching, but he was grateful for it because it helped keep his mind off the intense silence coming from the receiver.  He had no idea what could be happening, but whatever it was, he needed it to end with their goal achieved and all his people alive.

Jongdae seemed to get some sort of control over his breathing, and Yixing looked relieved as he sat back beside him, rubbing his back again.

“What just happened?” Chanyeol asked them both.

“I’m sorry,” Jongdae said. “I get really bad panic attacks.”

“Since when?” Chanyeol said, feeling this is something he would have vividly remembered from their childhood.

“Since Mina,” Jongdae said, taking another deep breath and letting it out slowly. “My first one was the day of her funeral. Now I just get them all the time.”

It was understandable, but Chanyeol had nothing better to say than, “I’m sorry.”

“No, I’m sorry,” Jongdae then said. “You’re right. This operation was about my ego. I felt so helpless being stuck in the house not able to do anything. I was so tired of people thinking I was just crazy and too fragile to help. I wanted to prove to everyone that I was fine and useful.”

“I’m about to be real blunt right now,” Chanyeol warned him. “But you can’t be useful if you’re not fine. And based on all this, you’re not fine.”

“You think you’re so much better than me, don’t you? You always have,” Jongdae said, though he seemed more resigned as he said this, instead of bitter.

Chanyeol hated that it made him bristle to be asked that, reminding him of his mother’s own words to him on the same subject. At this point, he had to accept the fact that he must have come off that way since everyone pointed it out to him, but he didn’t have time to think about that now.

“I’ve never thought that,” Chanyeol told him. “And I’m sorry if I ever made you feel that way.”

“I really am sorry about tonight,” Jongdae said again, taking another deep breath, but seeming to have an easier time of it now. “I’m prepared to be held responsible for whatever the outcome may be.”

“Let’s just hope the outcome is a good one,” Chanyeol said, not wanting to think about the alternative.

“How did you fit into this role so easily?” Jongdae then asked him.

“You think this is easy?” Chanyeol said, almost offended. “I’m sweating right now. I hate everything about this moment. I wish I had never agreed to any of this. My stomach is in knots in worry, my blood pressure is probably through the roof, and I am regretting every single decision I’ve ever made leading up to this moment. This hasn’t been easy for me. None of this has.”

“Then how do you make it look easy?”

“I don’t think I am. I’m literally on the verge of a nervous breakdown right now,” Chanyeol admitted, running his hand through his hair. “I was not made for this life. I’m only doing this because I have to. But after my father is back to running things, I’m going to find myself a great therapist and spend a lot of time working through the PTSD I am sure I’m going to have once this is done.”

“I happen to know a good therapist,” Jongdae said.

“I don’t think they’re doing that great of a job.”

“Hey,” Yixing said, offended by the slight more than Jongdae appeared to be.

“I’m sorry,” Chanyeol said, putting his hand up in an apologetic defense. “That was a low blow.”

“You seem to be good at those,” Yixing commented.

Chanyeol threw a slight glare Yixing’s way, but Yixing didn’t seem to be affected by it, as he focused his attention back to Jongdae to make sure he was fine.

“14, don’t shoot!” Came the unmistakable sound of D.O.’s voice over the receiver and Chanyeol froze as he listened closely, though it was hard to hear with all the commotion in the background.

“They’re escaping the house,” their lead assassin said.

“It’s okay, they’re on our side,” D.O. said.

“They’re with us,” Luhan confirmed. “Cover them.”

And then silence rang out again.

“This is driving me crazy,” Junmyeon said. “I wish we had cameras in place.”

“What the hell is happening?” Chanyeol asked no one, and he grabbed at his hair, forming a fist in anxious waiting.

Tense moments of silence passed again and Chanyeol began to pace, doing his own breathing exercises to keep his own anxiety at bay. Hearing D.O.’s voice had given him a bit of hope, but the longer he had to wait to hear it again, the more convinced he was that something terrible might have happened.

“99,” the lead security said, “You’re clear for a clean sweep.”

“Copy,” Minseok said, the direction having been intended for him.

Chanyeol immediately got on the receiver.

“35, status?”

“We think we got everyone, but we have to get out of here since the cops are on their way.”

“Evacuate your team. Team A, evacuate.”

“99, confirm new order,” the lead security said to Minseok. “We have to get out. No time for a clean sweep.”

“I’m already in,” Minseok said. “It looks like we took out the elder Choi, but we’ve got the young Choi alive.”

“99, take him and get out of there,” Chanyeol said.

“Copy,” Minseok said.

“Team A, are you evacuating?” Chanyeol asked again, not having heard from his assassins.

“61,” the lead security said, “We’ve got a few men down. It’s taking us longer to evacuate. Standby.”

Chanyeol shut his eyelids and squeezed them as tight as he could to keep from yelling out in regret. He knew it was naïve to think that no one would get hurt in this, but he had been hoping that with the ambush, his people got out unscathed. Why hadn’t his assassins responded yet?

“I’m sorry,” Jongdae said and this time Chanyeol did find something to throw at him. A small notebook that he kept on his father’s desk. It hit Jongdae’s upper arm.

“Shut the fuck up,” Chanyeol said to him with another piercing glare that made his former friend cave into himself a bit as he rubbed his arm.

“14,” Chanyeol said, with anger and a bit of desperation. “Did you and the rest of Team A evacuate?”

“61,” the lead security said, “Everyone’s moving out. We’re hearing sirens. We got everyone that was down. We’re evacuating now.”

“Good, get out of there as fast as you can,” Chanyeol said, and he ran his hand through his hair and could feel it shaking against his scalp.

Junmyeon placed a hand on his arm, looking at him with understanding.

“It’s fine. I’m sure everyone got out of there,” he told him and Chanyeol nodded at him, though he couldn’t quite believe him.

“61,” came the lead assassin’s voice finally. “Team A is in the clear and heading back to report.”

“Thank you, 14,” Chanyeol said after letting relief settle his stomach and the pounding of his chest. “Be careful.”

It seemed to take days, even though only a bit more than half an hour had passed, but the teams began arriving back at the estate and their lead security came into the office with Minseok, who Jongdae sprinted toward to welcome with a tight hug.

“We took out most of their people,” their lead security reported. “Including the elder Choi and his advisor. We brought the young Choi back as a hostage. His mother and sister have been spared, but we left them at the house. We have four injured, and we lost one so far. The other four have been taken to the hospital with various degrees of injury.”

Chanyeol felt his heart grow heavy as the name of their fallen security team member was told to him, Chanyeol knowing him just well enough to feel the sting of his loss.

“Thank you,” Chanyeol told him, and he nodded at Minseok as well, “To the both of you.”

Minseok nodded back at him, and Chanyeol was glad the animosity he had felt coming from him the day before appeared to be gone for the moment.

“Did 4 ever report back in?” Minseok asked Jongdae, appearing to have the sudden thought.

“No, he didn’t,” Jongdae said, and Minseok gave his cousin a look before looking at Yixing for more answers, but Yixing said nothing.

The assassins came into the office and Chanyeol wanted to run and take D.O. into his arms and hold him in relief, but he didn’t, though D.O. seemed to have a similar idea as he rushed to him.

“I have to tell you something,” D.O. said, and his eyes showed what may have been fright.

“In a second,” Chanyeol said, though now his face contorted into concern. “I need an update.”

“I know, but I really need to talk to you,” D.O. insisted, and Chanyeol began to worry.

“We took out all of our targets and some others as well,” the Park lead assassin stated to Chanyeol. “I almost took out another but was told by both of my team members that the person running across the grounds was on our side.”

“It was 4,” Luhan said, glancing to Jongdae, then Chanyeol, then Kyungsoo. “He ran out of the house with a girl and made it into the woods. We don’t know what happened to him after that.”

“We haven’t heard from him yet,” Minseok said, “But I’m sure he made it out fine.”

“I’m just curious as to why you didn’t alert me to the plan,” the lead assassin said, “But you alerted D.O.”

“I didn’t,” Luhan said, and then he looked at D.O. “How did you know he was on our side?”

Chanyeol’s attention turned fully now to D.O., staring at him, knowing there had to be a logical explanation, but then he watched as D.O. closed his eyes for a moment then looked back up at him.

“Can we please speak in private?” D.O. asked him, his tone soft enough to hear the small tentative vibration of the request.

“How,” Chanyeol said carefully, “did you know that 4 was on our side?”

D.O. sucked in his bottom lip for a small moment before he swallowed and said, “I was told in advance.”

“Who told you?” Chanyeol asked, and the familiar feeling of dread began to creep its way back to his chest and stomach.

“4 did.”

“What?” Junmyeon asked, along with others in the room who had not been expecting this answer.

Chanyeol felt too confused by this.

“He just randomly came up to you and told you?” Chanyeol asked, needing the answer to be clear and sensible.

D.O. shook his head and glanced over to Jongdae and then back to Chanyeol.

“D.O.,” Chanyeol said, and he had found a sternness to accompany his voice that made D.O. flinch and stand at attention as he looked at him. “Why did 4 alert you to the side plan?”

Chanyeol watched as D.O. stared at him, his eyes, trained to show no emotion, showing many at that moment, the most palpable being guilt.

“Because he’s my best friend,” D.O. said, and many sounds echoed around the room, but all Chanyeol could focus on were those simple words coming from a man who had told him that he had no one in his life.

Chanyeol glanced at Jongdae, who stared in shock at D.O., the other Kim family members beside him with similar expressions on their faces.

“I’m sorry,” D.O. said, “I was going to tell you after the operation.”

“After the operation?” Chanyeol snapped at him. “You withheld information from me that directly related to this operation. You betrayed me.”

“No!” D.O. shouted out, putting his hands up in pleading. “That’s not… I should have told you.”

“So this whole time you’ve been working for the Kim’s?” Chanyeol asked, ready to throw up.

“No,” D.O. said, “I’ve been working for you. When I heard about what happened to your father, I wanted to help, but I didn’t know how to. I thought that if I could find out information and piece together what happened, then I could find who had tried to kill him and take them out myself in revenge. I wasn’t getting far with the contacts I was trying to get information from, so I sent my best friend to infiltrate the Kim family to see what information they had that would help. That’s how I found out you were looking for me. So I made the decision to come to you and try and help, and I did. Your families weren’t even trying to work together to figure out who had tried to kill your father. So my best friend and I did it, and we figured it out using the information both families had, and when we knew the answer, we shared it with both families so you guys could take care of it. There was nothing malicious in either of our intentions,” D.O. said, looking toward Jongdae as he said this. “We both became too attached to the families we started working for,” he said looking back at Chanyeol. “I swear that we were both just trying to help.”

Chanyeol stared at him, numb and on fire from anger all at once. He had allowed himself to get caught up in a person that had betrayed him, both through lies and unspoken truths, and because he had been so stupid to pursue a relationship instead of putting his duties first, he had four men in the hospital, five if he included Jongin, and one dead security member under his belt.

“I thought assassins couldn’t make friends,” Chanyeol said, his voice far away to himself.

“I made one. We’re more like family. We’re all each other has,” D.O. explained.

“Yes,” Chanyeol nodded, “You’re all each other has since you are no longer part of this family. Get out of here, and don’t ever think of stepping foot on this property again.”

“Chanyeol,” D.O. said, reaching out to him and Chanyeol slapped his hand away.

“Get the fuck out,” and there was no room for discussion in his tone.

It broke him to see the look of devastation on D.O.’s face. He couldn’t let himself think about it as he motioned for security to get him out.

D.O. sensed their movement and backed away, giving Chanyeol one last pleading look before turning around and leaving the office, accompanied by a security team member to assure he left the premises.

Chanyeol could not break down in front of all the people in that office, so he told everyone to get rest and that they would reconvene with fresh minds in the morning. He excused himself and hurried out of the office, taking long, fast steps to his room where he slammed the door behind him and collapsed onto his bed, pulling his pillow close to him and squeezing it tight as he let out a wail of frustration, sorrow, disappointment, anger, every last emotion he had bottled up during the ordeal of the night and morning it had spilled into.

He hadn’t heard his door open after he had slammed it shut, but he did feel a weight shift his bed, and then a hand on his shoulder, rubbing it calmly.

“I’m so sorry,” Junmyeon’s voice said, also calm and in the most caring tone he had ever heard from his advisor. “Just rest. Let it all out and rest. You did great today, Chanyeol. Just let it all out and rest.”

Chanyeol did let it all out, and he fell asleep in the comfort of his advisor’s arms.

***

The sun was setting when Chanyeol woke up, and he felt disoriented, yawning and rubbing his eyes as he tried to remember why he’d be waking up as it became night.

He lay in his bed, unsure of what to do next after all that had happened. Taking a moment to himself, he thought back through the events of the morning, and when he got to the part where D.O. had confessed his betrayal, Chanyeol curled up into his pillow once more.

It was fine, he mentally told himself. He didn’t allow himself to get close to people for a reason, and this merely solidified his position on the matter. D.O. had been a mistake. He should have let him quit and leave the office in peace that day they had both discovered their mutual interest in each other.

He thought momentarily of D.O.’s heart-shaped lips, and then of his large owl eyes, and then of his small stature that had felt just right in his arms regardless of their large height difference. Chanyeol cursed as a tear escaped.

He had to pull it together. So he willed himself to leave his bed, freshening himself up before leaving his room and heading to the kitchen to find a snack.

“You’re up,” Junmyeon said, offering him a small smile over a mug as he sat at the kitchen table with Chanyeol’s security guard.

“I can’t believe it’s already going to be night,” Chanyeol remarked, seeing the pot of coffee that had provided the contents of his advisor’s mug. He poured himself one as well. “I’ve slept the entire day away.”

“You’ll sleep more tonight I’m sure,” Junmyeon said. “If you’re in the mood, I briefed your father on everything that happened, and he wishes to speak with you when you have a chance. No rush. He wants you to rest more than anything and said it could wait.”

“I’ll go speak to him,” Chanyeol said, mostly for a lack of anything better to do at this odd time of day.

He excused himself from the kitchen and searched for his father, finding him once again in the den watching television.

“Should I come back later?” Chanyeol asked, and his father waved him in and pressed the off button on the remote.

“Did you sleep well?” His father asked, motioning for him to sit beside him on the couch.

Chanyeol sat on the opposite end so he could bring his long legs up and tuck them underneath each other as he faced his father.

“No. I don’t know,” he then amended, blowing the hot steam floating above his mug. “I feel scattered right now.”

“You’ll get more sleep tonight and be as good as new in the morning.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever be as good as new after all that happened.”

“You handled it well from what I heard.”

Chanyeol had no way of knowing if that was true. He had been so stressed and had been running off adrenaline, trying to follow his gut instincts because he had been too anxious to think anything through fully.

“I never want to do that again,” he told his father, staring at the older man as he nodded at his son’s statement.

“I know you don’t, and it’s sad for me, only because you have the skill to do it.”

“I don’t,” Chanyeol countered with a firm shake of his head. “I made a lot of bad decisions that put people’s lives in danger. I have five people in the hospital, including my cousin. I lost one.”

“It’s part of life for us,” his father told him. “No one agrees to become part of a high family without knowing they may be killed. It’s a risk we choose to take. You didn’t have that choice, but those not born into this life made that choice.”

“You make it sound like everyone is expendable to you.”

“No, you misunderstand. All I’m saying is that those in the hospital knew what they signed up for. They’re not there because of your bad decisions. They’re there because of the nature of what we do. What other option did you have but to take out the Choi’s?”

None. And it bothered him even more to know that there had been no avoiding having to go through with it.

“It’s still my fault,” Chanyeol said softly, and he took a sip of his mug, savoring the strong liquid.

“If you need someone to blame, then blame the Choi’s. They are, after all, the reason you had to take over in the first place.”

He sat in silence, knowing it was true, but not having a response for it. He took another sip of coffee.

“I was also informed that you told D.O. to leave the family,” his father then said.

Chanyeol exhaled a sharp breath and changed the subject.

“How long do I wait before I lift the lockdown?” He asked his father. “Is it really safe now?”

“You need to meet with your team and assess the outcome and so on. Why did you change the subject?”

“I don’t want to talk about D.O.”

“It’s odd to me, that you went from disliking him, to making him your security guard, to disliking him once more.”

“He betrayed me. He betrayed the family.”

“The way it was explained to me, he was attempting to help the family.”

“He held back vital information that we needed to know. He knew parts of the operation that he didn’t share. Who knows what else he could have known that could have maybe helped us take care of this in a way where I didn’t have five people in the hospital and one to bury.”

“I know D.O. well,” his father said, and Chanyeol felt a lump rise in his throat. “I know him better than you. Betrayal is not something in his nature. If he chose to withhold information, then he must have had reason for it, and I strongly believe, that if you needed to know what he knew, he would have told you.”

“So you’re believing him over your own son?” Chanyeol felt a bitter taste in his mouth now that even his coffee could not wash away.

“I said no such thing. If your idea of betrayal is a man doing everything he could to find out who tried to kill his mentor, then I’m not sure you have ever experienced real betrayal.”

Chanyeol felt an ache in his chest at his father’s words, followed by a dull jab. His father may have been right, but between Jongdae lying to him about the operation and Minho using his former flame for information to try and kill Chanyeol, he felt he might have an idea of what betrayal might be, and even still, those things hadn’t hurt as much as what D.O. had done to him.

“What do you care anyway?” Chanyeol said, taking a different approach since his father seemed to have no intentions of letting him change the subject again. “Weren’t you the one that didn’t want him working for the family again anyway?”

“I wanted him to have peace,” his father said, “Something one can’t have when dismissed from a family under the charge of betrayal. I think you need to reconsider this and speak with him.”

“If it matters so much to you, then you go tell him that. Tell him that when you take back over he can come back and be part of the family again, but he’s not welcome back while I’m still in charge.”

“You’re being obtuse about this.”

“It’s my decision to make.”

“It is, but you’re not even attempting to listen to reason. You had your mind made up about him the moment you met him and you never let that go. Why do you hate him so much?”

“Am I responsible for the funeral arrangements?” Chanyeol attempted to change the subject once more.

“I already spoke with Junmyeon about it. He’s handling the details.”

“His family has been informed as well?”

“They have. Junmyeon’s consulting with them as well and will make sure their wishes for the funeral are honored.”

“I should go see Jongin,” Chanyeol then said, “Has he been briefed?”

“Our lead security briefed him when he went to check up on the others. He’s in good spirits from what I hear.”

“I’ll see him in the morning,” Chanyeol said. “When the days make sense again,” he added, taking a look out the window at the night that had finally descended upon them.

“Chanyeol, why do you hate D.O. so much? If it’s jealousy, it’s ridiculous. We already discussed that, and I thought you understood.”

“Why can’t you let this go?” Chanyeol said with an almost pleading tone as he looked back at his father. “I said I don’t want to talk about it.”

“It’s strange that you can talk about everything else, but not this. You’re not acting normal about this.”

Chanyeol said nothing as he looked at his father. What could he tell him? His father claimed to know D.O. better than him, and even that hurt Chanyeol because he had been getting to know D.O. well. But there were always things that D.O. held back, like where he lived, and then things Chanyeol didn’t even know he was holding back, like having a random best friend that was working for the Kim’s. It was just too much.

“And you’ve gone quiet again,” his father said with a sigh. “What’s going through your mind?”

Chanyeol shut his eyes tight to keep his emotions from falling all over his face. There were many things he had always been open with his father about, most everything really, but this was a hard one. Still, he found that he couldn’t hold it in any longer, and he blamed it on how exhausted he felt and how disoriented his mind was at the moment.

“It hurts,” Chanyeol said, taking a deep breath and opening his eyes as he looked at his father. “It hurts so bad.”

His father’s gaze showed confusion as he paid closer attention to his son.

“What hurts?”

“Being betrayed by someone I had started to fall for,” he admitted, and he shook his head as a tear fell, and explained to his father who still didn’t understand, “I don’t hate D.O. I didn’t trust him at first. But as I got to know him things changed. I came up with excuses to keep him around. I made him my bodyguard to have him closer to me. It was stupid. Instead of making sure to do what I had to do as head of the family, I was too busy falling for the person that my father wished was his son instead of me.”

More tears fell and Chanyeol wiped at them furiously. He looked at his father, who looked stunned at the revelation, and now it was the older man’s turn to fall into silence.

“This is all my fault,” Chanyeol said, “I was so mad at having to take over for you. I didn’t know how to deal with anything. An escape came along and I took it. But then Jongin got hit. Dad, I can’t do this anymore. This all hurts too much. I wasn’t born as strong as you and Jongin. I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I just can’t.”

His father reached his hand out and placed it on Chanyeol’s knee, giving it a small squeeze.

“You’re almost done,” he told him. “We can start transitioning back in a few weeks. It’ll be a little earlier than the doctors want, but it’ll be fine.”

“You can’t push yourself,” Chanyeol said shaking his head.

“Don’t worry about it. I don’t like seeing you like this, and you shouldn’t have to bear this burden any longer. Being the head of this family is my responsibility. It’s like a marriage. In sickness and in health. You’ve done an incredible job. Don’t think for a moment that you disappointed me.”

“How can you still think that? After everything that’s happened?”

“You came in with no experience and went to war against a powerful high family and won. Anything you’ve ever felt you needed to prove to me, you have. I didn’t raise you to take over a high family, yet you instinctively knew how to. It’s not for you, and I understand that, but it’s nice to know that you had what it took, which I always suspected. You’ve made me proud. The only reason you don’t feel that pride within yourself, is because you hated everything about it, but I hope someday, you can look back at what you’ve accomplished and feel a little bit of pride for it.”

What he had accomplished was the slaughter of a family and several cops. Chanyeol knew he’d never feel any pride for it.

“I will never understand you,” Chanyeol told him, glad the tears had seemed to have stopped.

“And I will never understand you,” his father told him. “Now, tell me what I need to know about you and D.O.”

“Please don’t make me talk more about it.”

“I am very confused by what you have told me,” his father said. “And I need you to explain to me what you meant. I know you are not very discerning with your love interests. I don’t understand that either, but that’s your choice and I respect it. D.O., as far as I know, has no experience with those sorts of matters. Was he aware of your feelings for him?”

“Yes,” Chanyeol answered, and once again his father looked shocked.

“And how did he react to that information?”

“By telling me that he had been interested in me as well.”

“That’s impossible.”

“Why? Why would that be impossible?”

“It’s just that,” his father’s brows furrowed, as if attempting to find information in his mind, “He’s never shown any desire for attachment. He’s always been focused on his duties. It doesn’t seem like him to allow himself to become interested in someone.”

“He’s a human being. He’s not your little killing robot that doesn’t get emotionally damaged every time you send him on a job,” Chanyeol said, perhaps with a tone too bitter for his father, who gave him a look to calm down.

“You don’t understand.”

“You’re right. I don’t understand. Whenever we would talk about it, he would talk about you in a way where he was grateful for what you’ve done for him, and in turn to him. He thinks you’re amazing. You’re like the father he never had. And all I keep thinking, is that if you had done to me what you did to him, I would not have thought of you with fondness.”

“You grew up privileged,” his father told him, “He didn’t. It makes a difference.”

“So because he wasn’t privileged, you thought it was okay to train him to be a killer and take away his childhood and any innocence he had left? How can you even pretend you care about him?”

“Again, you don’t understand. It’s not that simple. But think what you like, Chanyeol. It’s for the best that the two of you aren’t involved with each other. Like you suggested, I’ll talk to him on my own and let him know that when I take back over, he’ll be welcome to the family again. Our discussion here is done.”

Chanyeol couldn’t believe his father’s tone with him as he watched his father use his cane to push himself up. He knew he should help him, but he was too stunned and too upset, a new batch of tears welling up as his chest tightened. He barely set his mug of coffee down before breaking down again, curling up on the couch as he tried to figure out if anything in his life could possibly be fixable.

***

Having been in the house without D.O. was bearable, but Chanyeol discovered that leaving the house without D.O. was not. He felt alone as he walked through the hospital hallways that D.O. had previously accompanied him through. He felt like someone was missing. If he was honest with himself, he knew this incomplete feeling all too well, and it hurt too much to have it return after he thought he may have started to get rid of it.

“Hey, you’re looking well,” Chanyeol said when he made it into Jongin’s room, greeting his cousin with a small hug and a kiss on the cheek.

“I’ll be out of here in a couple more days,” Jongin said proudly with a big smile. “The doctors say that my age and great health helped in getting me out of here earlier than most in my condition.”

“My father was stuck in here for a few weeks, so you certainly beat him.”

“That was my goal,” Jongin joked and then he lost his bright smile a little as Chanyeol sat beside him. “How are you doing?”

“I’ve never slept so much in my life.”

“I heard everything went great. I also heard you were brilliant. All the security guys who’ve come to visit said you were a great leader. I wish I had been there.”

“I’m glad you weren’t,” Chanyeol said, rubbing his face momentarily before focusing back on him. “That was the second worst day of my life.”

“What was the first?”

Chanyeol shook his head and reached his hand out to rub it softly over Jongin’s. “Are you still too fragile for a good hand squeeze?”

“Nah, I can take it.”

Chanyeol gave Jongin’s hand a small squeeze and said, “I did miss you though. I could have used your knowledge and general attitude.”

“Next time.”

“There won’t be a next time. My dad said he’d start transitioning back in a few weeks. I told him I couldn’t do this anymore.”

This time it was Jongin who gave Chanyeol’s hand a squeeze, although it barely felt like anything at all due to his arm muscle’s condition.

“I’ll miss you being in charge,” Jongin said. “But I understand. I’m sorry you were so unhappy doing it. You were great though. Thank you for doing it for us while your dad recovered.”

Chanyeol was not worthy of Jongin’s words, and he dropped his head slightly, mostly out of shame.

“You guys deserved better. And I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you more. You and Junmyeon were right. I shouldn’t have ever gotten involved with D.O. I put this family in danger. And you being here, and the other guys being here, it’s my fault.”

“Don’t say that,” Jongin said, and Chanyeol looked back up at him to see his cousin looking at him with concern. “D.O. made you happy. It was good to see you like that again. It did interfere, but that’s not why we’re all in the hospital, and you know that too, so stop trying to beat yourself up for it.” Jongin paused and swallowed then added, “I heard about you dismissing D.O. as well. A little harsh don’t you think?”

“Everyone seems to think so,” Chanyeol admitted.

“The guys were all a bit shocked by it,” Jongin told him. “When they told me. They said D.O. had only been trying to help. But you know, they’ve always been fond of him. Some feel they helped raise him in a way.”

“It hurt,” Chanyeol tried to explain again. “You know, I finally find someone that I’m willing to open myself back up to, and start to trust, only to have him lie to me and keep from me this really huge secret. He knew more about everything going on than he told us.”

“I’m sure if D.O. had thought we needed to know it, he would have told us.”

“You and my father both seem certain about that.”

“I didn’t know D.O., but I heard enough stories,” Jongin said. “He was very by the book. Always did what he was told to do, and always helped out in ways no one expected him to. Kind of how he did when he joined back on, yeah?”

“He’s been gone from the family for a while. He’s obviously not the same person he was. He’s changed a lot, been through a lot, the idea of him being the same person everyone remembers is ridiculous,” Chanyeol reasoned. “He came back to our family with his own intentions.”

“But they were still to help the family out. He may have changed, but he obviously hasn’t changed that much if he came out of hiding to help.”

“That bothers me too,” Chanyeol admitted. “It all bothers me. His loyalty to my father is so devout.”

“He was trained to be that way,” Jongin said. “I trained a little bit with our lead assassin as well, to try and get better at shooting. I would ask him to teach me how to be more like an assassin, and he would tell me that I was never going to have to suffer that fate, so he wouldn’t do it. But he did tell me things about being an assassin. When they’re on the job, they’re very disciplined. They focus on following orders, without even thinking to question them. The loyalty is a byproduct of that, but in D.O.’s case, there’s more to it, because he was so young.”

Jongin’s perspective had shed a light that he had never even considered, and now Chanyeol felt a bit confused, trying to process the new thoughts in his mind.

“But he…” Chanyeol paused and thought about things that D.O. had told him, and then he focused on his thoughts as he recollected D.O. telling him about losing his mother. He wondered if D.O. had reached out to his father to tell him of her passing. He must have since his father had been taking care of the medical treatment. And then Chanyeol realized that to D.O., Chanyeol’s father was very much like a father to him. He wondered if his father helped D.O. through the pain of losing his mother.

“He’s the best assassin we’ve ever had,” Jongin said breaking him from his thoughts. “I’m willing to bet he’s the best assassin any high family has ever had. He heard you were looking for him, and he showed up. He didn’t have to. Him and his friend could have probably figured things out eventually with what the Kim’s had. But he’s so loyal to your dad that he came back to the family to help.”

“But in the time he’s been gone,” Chanyeol reasoned, “who’s to say he didn’t lose some of that loyalty? D.O. told me about how he grew up, about how he always got into fights with people, and was angry, and would do bad things. How does a person like that suddenly become someone that is strictly loyal even after being away from the person he was loyal to?”

“His training,” Jongin reminded him. “Try and imagine for a moment being trained to be a cold-blooded killer. That other part of D.O. still exists, and it comes out when he’s not being an assassin or having to think like one, but, it’s like there’s two D.O.’s. The one that follow rules and does as his employer says, and then there’s the one that you got to know, where he’s off-duty and can be who he truly is.”

Chanyeol thought of the moments and situations where D.O. had very much been his D.O. and not assassin D.O., like when they would kiss and D.O. would take the initiative to touch him a bit more, pushing himself out of his comfort zone to explore something so new. Chanyeol’s heart felt dull as he realized just how much he would miss those soft encounters.

It suddenly made sense how D.O. came running toward him that night, wanting to speak to him immediately, wanting to clear the confusion before Chanyeol found out the truth. He was no longer in assassin mode at that point. He was no longer trying to fulfill a duty or follow orders, and the first thing he wanted to do was tell him the truth once he had returned to his normal self. At that moment, he understood that the assassin that had helped him take out the Choi’s was D.O., but the man that came running toward him in the office wanting to talk wasn’t D.O. at all. It was Kyungsoo.

His heart broke for him again, and he pulled his hand away from Jongin’s and used it with his other to bury his head, his emotions getting the better of him again.

“I’m sorry,” Jongin said, “I know you care a lot about him.”

“I do,” Chanyeol managed to croak out, wiping his face and looking back at Jongin. “You didn’t see his face when I dismissed him. He looked so hurt. I made him look like that, and now it’s clear that he was doing his best in this whole situation, so I’m just an asshole.”

“You were hurt,” Jongin reminded him. “You just need to talk things out with him.”

“How? I kicked him out of the family. I banned him from the very thing that he came out of hiding to protect,” he said, and realized the truth of it even more now that he had said it out loud. “How do I look at him again after that?”

“You can, and you will. I want to see that smile on your face that he was responsible for, so you need to fix it regardless. Just take your time. Get your bearings. You’ll figure it out. Like you do everything else.”

Chanyeol hated himself so much at the moment. His emotions had gotten him into this mess. His stubbornness had done him in once again. His hard-headedness had led to this horrible outcome. Life would have been so much easier for him if he had come out more calm and level-headed like his cousin.

“How did your proposal go?” He thought to ask, needing to change the subject now.

“Very well,” Jongin said with a smile. “She wants it sooner rather than later, and I told her we could get married as soon as I get out, but she said she meant once everything had been resolved with the family. She’s very adamant about the family needing a fun celebration after all this, so she wants to make sure everyone’s invited.”

“I think I agree with her,” Chanyeol nodded, feeling calmer now that they were on a positive topic of conversation.

“Her and my mother and your mother are already working on details. Which reminds me, I have a very important question to ask you. You’re gonna be my best man, right?”

“Of course,” Chanyeol said, giving him a soft smile. “I’d be honored.”

“Good,” Jongin said smiling bigger at the response. “Also, we wanted to know if Taemin could be our ring bearer. I’ll understand if you don’t want him…”

“Of course,” Chanyeol said before he could finish, “He’d be honored as well.”

Seeing his cousin’s face light up was everything Chanyeol needed right now, and by the time he left the hospital, he started to feel that maybe some of his messes could be fixed after all.


	14. (Waxing Gibbous)

Jongdae had no desire to get out of bed. He had gone straight to his room and slept after the operation, and had woken up the next day feeling too despondent to change the situation. So he slept again, and the following day he felt even less inspired to leave his bed.

However, Yixing was no longer having it.

“We’re going to get food,” Yixing told him as he opened his window shades to allow the scattered light of early winter to fill the cold shadows of the room.

“You don’t have a choice,” Minseok then said, and though Jongdae couldn’t see him, he could feel him on his bed, tugging at his comforter.

“It’s been long enough, and you have things to do,” Yixing told him, standing in front of him now with his hands on his hips as he seemed to analyze how best to help Minseok get Jongdae out of his bed.

“I have nothing to do,” Jongdae said, his voice a bit raspy after not using it for so long. “And even if I had something to do, I wouldn’t do it right anyway. Just do whatever I have to do. You can handle it.”

“Why do I feel like we’re starting from the beginning?” Minseok said to Yixing.

“We’re not,” Yixing said. “He just took a big hit, but he’s fine. He just needs to get back on his feet and back in action.”

“He has this comforter wrapped under his legs. It’s like a goddamn cocoon,” Minseok huffed as he pushed against Jongdae’s legs to try and get the comforter to budge out from beneath him.

“Dae, get up,” Yixing said, reaching for the side of the comforter closer to him to try and help the situation. “You smell bad. You have to at least take a shower, if nothing else.”

“I don’t have to do shit,” Jongdae said, kicking out toward Minseok in retaliation.

“Stop that,” Minseok said, slapping Jongdae’s leg.

“How did you get this wrapped up?” Yixing asked as he tried tugging at a different section.

“It was cold,” Jongdae said, pulling the comforter toward him more to try and counteract the tugging.

“Fuck this shit,” Minseok said. “Xing, move.”

“What are you…” Yixing began.

Then Jongdae felt Minseok give his body a shove, hard enough to send him toward the edge of the bed.

“What are you doing?” Jongdae snapped at him.

“I’m pushing you off the bed,” Minseok snapped back.

“Okay, get up before you get hurt,” Yixing said, using the new position to grab a part of the comforter that he was able to lift off. He grabbed Jongdae’s arm, pulling him toward him.

“Let me go!” Jongdae fought.

But Minseok climbed over him to help Yixing out and in seconds he was on the floor, sitting as Yixing held onto his arm and Minseok held one of his legs.

“This is stupid,” Jongdae said, feeling anger wash over him as he shivered from the coolness that now touched his skin.

“It is stupid,” Minseok agreed, dropping his leg. “Stop acting like a spoiled brat and get your ass in the shower. You’re going to eat, and then you’re going to do your job. Remember? That whole future head of a high family thing?”

“I’m not going to be the head of the family,” Jongdae snapped at him. “I can’t do it.”

“Not with that attitude,” Yixing said, tugging at his arm to try and get him to stand up, “That’s for sure.”

“Can I interject?” His security guard said, as he sat on his usual chair and watched the situation play out.

“You can help stand him up,” Minseok said instead.

His security guard stood up, placing down the magazine he had been reading, and walked over, taking both of Jongdae’s arms as he pulled him up.

“What I wanted to say to you,” his security guard said as Jongdae scowled at the three men staring at him, “is that, before you went to the Park’s to try and make this operation happen, our security team didn’t think you could pull it off anyway.”

Jongdae was not surprised to hear this, but it still hurt. His stomach sank, and he wanted to crawl back into his bed.

“I hope there’s a point to you telling him this,” Yixing said to the security guard.

“My point is, if you’re not acting like a leader, then no one’s ever going to see you as one,” his security guard stated.

A beat of silence passed as Jongdae registered those simple words. He certainly had not been acting like a leader when he let his ego take over the operation and tried to use it to one-up Chanyeol instead of focusing on making sure everyone was safe and each option was accounted for. And even simpler than that, he was not acting as a leader when he threw temper tantrums in front of his security guards and advisor. It’s because he truly wasn’t a leader. That much had been confirmed by his actions since having to step into the role of heading the family. Everyone had seen it. Everyone knew it.  And Jongdae had never been good at acting.

Jongdae nodded at his security guard and said, “I hear what you’re saying.”

He took a couple of steps toward the bathroom then addressed his security guard again and told him, “Feel free to interject at any time.”

His security guard nodded at him, and Jongdae went to take a shower.

***

Minseok had been in the mood for pizza, so they ordered a large pie at the pizza place and accompanied it with salad and soju, the latter which had been an elixir for Jongdae’s state of mind.

They filled him in on what he had missed, mostly that Yixing had briefed his father on how the operation had gone, then Minseok brought up the fallout of the attack.

“We decimated the Choi’s,” Minseok said as he paused to take another drink of his soju. “The other families have been showering the Park’s with praises and gifts to stay on their good side and affirm that they are still allies and were in no way part of what the Choi’s had done.”

“What happened to Minho?” Jongdae asked, as he stabbed at his salad a few times before finally eating his forkful.

“The Park’s got him to sign over all of the Choi businesses and assets. The lawyers were there and Minho was trying hard to not cry as he signed every last document. Needless to say, the Park’s just got a hell of a lot richer. I give credit to Minho though for keeping it together through it all.”

“I don’t suppose we’ll get to see any of that money, huh?” Jongdae asked.

“Well…” Minseok said with a small smirk, “Have you checked your phone lately?”

He had, and he had ignored every call, text and message that had been left.

“I wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone,” Jongdae shrugged.

“Yeah, I didn’t reply to Baekhyun either,” Minseok told him.

That one had stung a bit. Baekhyun had called and left a message saying he had completed his mission and Jin-ri was safe in the location Minseok had specified. Then he texted to see if Jongdae had gotten his message. Then he had called again to see if Jongdae had gotten his text and his voicemail. Jongdae had responded to none of it. Then hours later, a text came in from Baekhyun saying he was sorry, and that he hadn’t meant any harm and had really been trying to help. And then he had sent another one asking if they could talk. And when Jongdae hadn’t responded to that one either, Baekhyun had finally stopped sending messages.

“I still haven’t wrapped my head around that whole situation,” Yixing admitted. “It’s not at all what I was expecting the truth to be, even if I did know there had to be a truth behind his motivations.”

“The whole thing is crazy,” Minseok agreed.

“It’s whatever,” Jongdae said, not wanting to think too much about it. He had never been able to trust Baekhyun anyway, but it had been nice to have someone that felt like an ally and an asset to the family. “It’s disappointing,” he then amended. “I probably wouldn’t have even cared as much if it had been the Kang’s or whoever, but it had to be the Park’s he was affiliated with. Like how is that my luck?”

“Our families always seem to be intertwined, whether we want them to be or not,” Minseok said and waved it off. “It’s okay though. I agree, it’s disappointing, but it is what it is. However, you’ll be intrigued to know that Baekhyun did us one final favor, probably as an apology for hiding the truth from us.”

“A favor?” Jongdae asked, a skeptical eyebrow raising.

“The last text I received from Baekhyun said to check our accounts, followed with another apology and him saying that he hopes it helps us out. So I have a little talk with our accountant, and we start peeking around our accounts to find that we suddenly have a massive influx of money all over the place. And when I say massive, I mean that my aunt can redecorate the whole compound and my parent’s house if she wants without sparing an expense.”

Jongdae’s mouth was so wide open that a fly could have flown in and he wouldn’t have noticed.

“Where did the money come from?” Yixing asked.

“Baekhyun more than likely kept a copy of the files for himself, being the con artist that he is,” Minseok pointed out. “So he had our bank information as well as the Choi’s. Like he said, he did it as an apology. It seems like something he’d do anyway.”

“It does,” Yixing agreed.

“Is it really ours?” Jongdae asked, so many thoughts running through his mind. “Like, are the Park’s going to ask us for it?”

“You already forgot how smart that sneaky little shit is,” Minseok said with a wag of the finger. “He skimmed money from multiple accounts knowing that Minho wasn’t going to know exactly how much had been in each one. They probably looked fine to Minho when he transferred it to them, and it’s not like the Park’s knew how much money they had in them before.”

“How much money are we looking at here?” Jongdae asked, processing this information, but still in disbelief of it. “And why didn’t you tell me this sooner?”

“Because you were too busy being a damn cocoon,” Minseok said. “It’s the kind of thing you tell a guy running things, not a guy running away from things.”

That truth hadn’t stung as hard as it probably should have, but Jongdae attributed it to the fact that this new information had his adrenaline rushing as he thought of what this meant for his initial plans.

“I’m sorry about that,” Jongdae said, looking toward Yixing and back to Minseok. “I didn’t know how to handle fucking up that badly.”

“By taking responsibility for your actions, learning from your mistakes, and moving on,” his cousin said, but his tone had softened a bit. “Either way, so with this new money, it’d be risky to pull away from the Park’s just yet, but we definitely have enough funds now to start seriously considering our game plan for becoming a high family again. We can hire new security with this and get our numbers and resources climbing again.”

Jongdae felt reinvigorated yet hated himself at the same time for wasting time sulking when he could have started planning things with this new information. He supposed that was another lesson learned, and he filed it mentally along with all the other things he still needed to think about from the past few days.

“Okay, so what is it that I had to do today?” Jongdae asked Minseok. “Or did you just need to share this information so we can start rebuilding?”

“No, we have a hostage situation to deal with first,” Minseok said.

“Isn’t that your territory?” Jongdae said, frowning as he took another bite of salad.

“It’s my territory in that I have to carry out my boss’ orders on what to do with them. So what do you want to do with Ju-hyun and Jin-ri now that this is all over?”

He supposed they should just let them go now that it was all done, but then he wondered if their lives were still in any form of danger.

“Did the Commissioner General survive all this?” Jongdae asked them.

“He did,” Yixing confirmed. “And no one has made him step down. He released a statement on the news yesterday about how he is doing everything to investigate the cops’ involvement with a high family and that he will make sure the department runs clean.”

“No one tied him to it?” Jongdae asked surprised.

“No one really understood what happened,” Minseok said. “The way the news covered it, it just seemed like there was a high family disagreement and some bad cops were involved.”

“I guess the majority of people that knew about it are dead now,” Yixing pointed out. “Except us and the Park’s.”

“Does he know we have his daughter?”

“Yeah,” Minseok confirmed. “I let her call him to let him know she was safe. I said we’d release her once you gave the word.”

“You can release her,” Jongdae said.

Minseok nodded and then asked, “What about Ju-hyun?”

Jongdae thought about it for a moment, remembering that fateful day that he had walked into the bar to try and find out information, only to have the same done to him by Minho’s former flame.

“I should talk to her,” Jongdae said. “I’m ready if you guys are done.”

“Eat another slice of pizza,” Yixing said, placing another one on his plate. “You only ate one and have been picking at your salad.”

“I’m not really that hungry.”

“Listen to your advisor,” Minseok said as he focused on finishing his drink before they left.

Jongdae relented and ate the slice, finishing his soju as well before they left.

***

When they arrived at the small warehouse where Minseok took his hostages, Minseok led Jongdae to the office where he had been keeping Ju-hyun and Jin-ri. Both women sat on the couch when Jongdae walked in and while Jin-ri looked at him hopeful, Ju-hyun turned her head away.

“Jin-ri,” Jongdae said. “I’m sorry we kept you this long. We just wanted to make sure things were safe before letting you leave. Our security will take you back to your home now.”

“Thank you,” Jin-ri said, standing up and bowing to Jongdae. “I know you didn’t have to save me, so thank you.”

Jongdae didn’t know what to say, so he just nodded at her, and then he looked at Minseok to give him time alone with Ju-hyun. Minseok shut the door for them.

Ju-hyun looked back at Jongdae then, watching him as he pulled the chair from the desk and turned it around to face her as he sat.

“So are you guys going to kill me now?” She asked.

“If Minseok had wanted to kill you,” Jongdae told her, “He would have already.”

“But you’re the one that makes the ultimate decision.”

Jongdae shook his head, then said, “We’re not killing you.”

Ju-hyun took a deep breath, letting it out slowly, her shoulders appearing to relax a bit in the process before she looked back at him, her face making it clear that she was determined in holding back her tears of relief.

“Can I go now then?”

“I wanted to talk to you first,” he said. “You’re probably aware of this, but the Park’s are a very thorough family. After you hooked up with Chanyeol, they did a background check on you.”

She looked at him, waiting to hear what he had to say.

“After our run-in, I asked them to see a copy of it, trying to see what angle you might be playing at. I found out when you started veterinary school. I also found out, because they were so thorough, which semesters you were enrolled. And I found out which school you attended before veterinary school and when you graduated from there. There was literally no period of time that you could have left to travel the world.”

Ju-hyun took another breath and let it out slowly.

“It was clever of you,” Jongdae continued, “To change some of the cities on my sister’s trip so that it wasn’t exactly the same.”

“Minho had me do research on all the high family sons and daughters,” Ju-hyun started to explain. “Even you and your sister. Just in case.”

“Yeah, I kinda figured that out,” Jongdae told her.

“Most of my information about your sister came from Minho. He had always liked her. He once told me that she was the first girl he had ever had a crush on.”

“My sister had that effect on people. At least she was smart enough to not get involved with him.”

“Ouch,” Ju-hyun said. “I suppose I deserve that.”

“Sorry. He’s still alive, but if I were you, I’d consider not seeing him again. The Park’s couldn’t get everyone before the cops started showing up, so he, his mother, sister, and a handful of others made it. He’s licking his wounds now, but who knows what he’ll have in mind to do once he’s gotten his bearings.”

“Do you think he’ll come after me?”

“He doesn’t know what’s happened to you, and he hasn’t asked.”

He watched her flinch and look away.

“You know,” Jongdae said, hoping to make her feel a tad bit better, “It might not be a bad idea to take that trip you pretended to take. Get out of the country, get away from all this, maybe look into veterinary schools in other countries.”

She looked back at him and swallowed, her eyes both sad, but thoughtful.

“I could do that,” she said, then shook her head to herself. “I’m not a stupid girl.”

“I know you’re not.”

“I was in love with him. But in the end, he whores me out, sends me to my death, and doesn’t even bother to ask if I’m still alive. I just wish I knew at what point he stopped loving me, or if he ever even loved me at all.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Jongdae said. “The moment he chose to be with Jin-ri was the moment you should have walked away. Your entire relationship was over at that point.”

“That’s clearer now in hindsight. At the time, he made me believe it was temporary. Maybe I am a stupid girl after all.”

“You’re not,” Jongdae assured her, even as his own thoughts drifted to Yoona and how he had chosen to push her away over keeping their relationship intact. “We’ve all been there.”

“You? The person who’s all about serious relationships?”

“Me. The person that pushed away the woman he loved because he couldn’t cope with the death of his sister.”

“Asshole.”

“I know,” he admitted, even if she was being somewhat facetious.

“I guarantee you that you could get her back if you wanted to.”

Jongdae didn’t say anything.

“Do you want to?” She went ahead and asked.

“I want a lot of things that I’m never going to get,” he said instead. “My sister had an account set up for her trip, and she didn’t end up using it all. I can give you some of that if it helps you get out of the country quicker.”

“You’re too nice to be the son of a high family. I appreciate the gesture, but I got myself into this mess, I can get myself out of it.”

“Offer’s on the table if you change your mind.”

“I wish I had met you first. Before Minho. I bet we could have been really good together.”

“I’m a bit of a mess, as you know from your research.”

“So am I, as you know from yours.”

Jongdae gave her a small smile and shook his head. He stood up and opened the door, motioning for her to leave with him.

He took her to where Minseok and the other security guards sat and let them know that she needed to be taken home. He walked with her to the car and one of the security members held the door open for her, but before she got in, she turned to face Jongdae.

“In a few years, if I feel it’s safe to return, and I come back and you’re still not with your girl, we should meet up.”

“I hope in a few years your type is no longer sons of high families,” Jongdae told her in return.

“You aren’t the son of a high family anymore,” she pointed out.

“Not at the moment, but by the time you come back, I’ll be the head of one.”

“Well that works out, since in a few years that will be exactly my type,” she said with a small smirk.

“You’re crazy.”

“And so are you, Kim Jongdae. Get your girl back or get stuck with me. The choice is in your hands.”

Jongdae walked over to her, placing his hand on the car door and motioning for her to get in the car.

“Take care of yourself.”

“You too,” she said, giving him a soft smile and finally getting in the car.

He closed the door for her, and as he watched the car pull away, Minseok stood beside him, and said, “I would never let you date someone that untrustworthy. Just so we’re clear.”

“I would never date someone that untrustworthy,” Jongdae said, putting his arm around Minseok’s shoulder. “I happen to have great taste in women.”

“That’s hard to say since you’ve only ever hooked up with a couple,” Minseok pointed out.

“I can’t help it if I know what I like,” he shrugged.

“It was nice hearing you say you were going to be the head of the family. Are you back to believing that?”

“I don’t know how to do it,” Jongdae sighed, pulling his arm away as he scratched the back of his neck. “I’m not a leader. I can’t fake being a leader. I’m not mentally fit at the moment to lead according to everyone around me. My confidence has taken a major beating. I failed at my first attempt at an operation. The cards are stacked against me right now.”

“And yet?” Minseok asked, appearing to have sensed something in Jongdae’s tone.

“I still want to try,” Jongdae admitted, not really having to think about it. He knew what he felt inside, and maybe it was the challenge of it, or maybe it was the absurdity of it, but whatever it was, he still felt he had nothing to lose in trying. “What else am I going to do? I might as well give it a shot.”

“Maybe instead of trying and feeling this pressure to do it, you should start looking at it in a different way.”

“Like how?”

“Like something fun.”

“Being the head of a family is fun?”

“It can be, especially in times of peace when a family isn’t trying to kill you. I’m just saying. Find some aspect of it that you kinda enjoy and focus on that to start.”

“I like this aspect of setting hostages free,” Jongdae said.

“How are we from the same family?” Minseok said, but then he smiled and messed up Jongdae’s hair. “Come on, let’s go home. Our work here is done.”

Jongdae spent the car ride home trying to think of what aspect of running a high family he liked, but his experiences had been so terrible so far that nothing seemed enjoyable, so instead he let his mind drift to thoughts of Yoona and fantasies about him telling her he was sorry and how they should get back together. But even in his fantasies, he couldn’t allow himself to believe that she would ever take him back.

***

During dinner, Jongdae informed his parents of their newfound wealth, which his father had already heard about through their accountant. His mother, however, seemed cautious and had simply said, “Maybe I’ll just redecorate the master bedroom for now.”

After dinner, Jongdae retired to his office, pulling up the bank accounts to see the shiny new numbers for himself. He still couldn’t believe Baekhyun had done that for them, and it made him realize just how crucial the con man had been to any success they had had in their endeavors this past month. They wouldn’t have gotten far without him, and Jongdae frowned.

“What is it?” Yixing asked, sitting in his usual spot across from him as he studied something on his own laptop.

“I have to admit defeat,” Jongdae said. “I suck at this job. We got as far as we did because you’re great at your job, Minseok is great at his job, and we had a Baekhyun. I need to find another Baekhyun.”

“I think a man like that is hard to come by,” Yixing stated, peering at him over his screen.

“You know what’s even more frustrating about it?” Jongdae said, “Now that the Park’s know he exists, they’re probably going to take him in as one of theirs. Like they needed him on top of everything else when they’re already so powerful.”

“You can always forgive him and hire him back,” Yixing said.

“Would you?” Jongdae gave all his attention to his advisor.

“He never claimed to be an honest man,” Yixing pointed out. “We warned you to not hire him to begin with. He may or may not be affiliated with The Academy. He’s certainly affiliated with the Park’s. Out of all those things, the only real issue you have with him is that he’s affiliated with the Park’s. Would I hire him back? It’s a moot point because I wouldn’t have hired him on in the first place after my advisor and security told me not to. So the question is, would you?”

Jongdae wondered what a leader would do, and Mina and Chanyeol both sprung into his mind as examples of people that would know what to do in this situation. Chanyeol had dismissed his assassin the moment he had found out, while Jongdae had avoided the issue altogether by not returning Baekhyun’s messages or calls. So already, Jongdae had failed that leadership test. Mina… He wasn’t sure what Mina would have done. He was pretty sure Mina would have taken the chance to hire him, and as he thought through the scenario with his sister, he realized she wouldn’t have relied on him as much as he had. So that was another leadership test he had failed.

But his mother had told him to not compare himself to his sister, and in turn, he probably shouldn’t try and copy Chanyeol either. So would he forgive Baekhyun and hire him back?

“I have no idea,” Jongdae sighed, as no answer came to him. This all felt confusing to him for reasons he couldn’t understand.

“Just think on it if it keeps bothering you,” Yixing said. “Otherwise, move on from it. I sent some homework to your email.”

“Homework?” Jongdae asked, pulling up his email to check.

“I’ve sent you about six informative articles I found online about being a good leader, and I ordered you an online book about leadership and sent you the file so you can study up.”

“Wow,” Jongdae said as he opened the first article, and he felt like he was back in school again, only instead of him helping Yixing with his homework, Yixing was helping him with his.

“It didn’t occur to me until your security guard mentioned it that no one has actually taught you what good leadership even was. Your father, who I respect greatly, didn’t train you well because he was grieving and couldn’t. Outside of him, no one’s really advised you or mentored you at all on leadership, so I’ve been doing research today and have found really good things to read. I’m going to keep looking for more, so expect an influx.”

Jongdae didn’t know what to say to Yixing that truly conveyed the gratitude he felt, so he had to settle for a simple, “Thank you.”

That night, he comfortably sat in his bed with his laptop in front of him, reading each article and mentally taking notes, already envisioning ways that he could implement some of what he was learning.

***

Jongdae woke up with a list of things he wanted to accomplish for the day, and he made notes in his notebook with tips for himself and reminders to breathe if anything began to overwhelm him. He showered and made an effort to get dressed in something other than jeans and a T-shirt, putting on a pair of slacks and a button-down shirt in motivation to work harder that day.

And as if the universe had decided to play along and give him a test, his father’s security guard came to his room to deliver a message.

“You have a visitor waiting for you in your father’s office,” the man informed him.

“A visitor?” Jongdae asked as he rolled up the sleeve of his shirt that extended too far past his hand.

“The young Choi is here and wishes to speak with you.”

Jongdae blinked then nodded, not sure why Minho was there or wanted to speak with him, but letting the man know he’d be down in a moment.

He collected Yixing from his room, needing the security blanket of his advisor before dealing with this sudden meeting.

“You look nice,” Yixing told him as they walked.

“One of the leadership tips in what you sent me was to look the part, so I’m trying to look the part.”

“It’s nice. I like it,” Yixing said with a soft smile. “So any idea what this is about?”

“None at all.”

When they reached his father’s office, the security outside opened the door for him and Jongdae walked in, seeing Minho standing and then bowing at him. Jongdae returned the greeting and took a look at him as he walked by him to stand by his father’s desk.

Minho looked as Jongdae expected, tired mostly, listless and a bit lost. Jongdae knew the look well from the many months he’d had to look at himself in the mirror after Mina’s death.

“Thank you for seeing me,” Minho said to him.

“Why are you here?” Jongdae asked, glancing at his father who watched the scene and seemed to make no motion of interaction. Then Jongdae looked back at Minho.

“The Park’s left me with nothing,” Minho told him, and Jongdae felt as if he could visibly see Minho swallowing his pride.

“They left you with your life,” Jongdae told him. “You should be grateful.”

“How am I supposed to take care of my mother and my sister?” Minho asked, his voice breaking slightly as he took a deep breath to reign it in. 

Jongdae had to look away for a moment, the scene being one he had too much familiarity with. He composed himself as well and looked back at Minho.

“They didn’t take your belongings, did they?” Jongdae asked. “Sell them.”

“We plan to, but that will take time.”

“Your family tried to kill my father,” Jongdae reminded him. “Your family killed some of our best security. And you did this to us while we were in the middle of a war when we were weak and vulnerable.”

“That was my father. That wasn’t me,” Minho said, the pleading tone in his voice. “I didn’t have a choice in the matter. Now my father’s gone as are a lot of my family and people I loved. Doesn’t that make us all even?”

“Why did you come to me? We’re under the Park’s. I can’t help you.”

“Because you understand.”

He did understand, and he knew exactly the desperation Minho felt that had caused him to try and reach out to a family, even a family that had ended up losing its high status because of the events his family had caused.

“Jongdae, I’m sorry for what my family did to yours,” Minho said, “I’m sorry that I didn’t stop my father or go against him. I’ve never had courage against my father. I’ve never had any say in anything in my life. And now the person who told me what to do is gone. I don’t know what to do. Help me, please.” Minho said, and he dropped to his knees in front of Jongdae and bowed in front of him. “Please help me. I will do anything. Whatever you need, I can do.”

Jongdae was surprised by this act and he glanced at Yixing hoping his advisor knew how to deal with this situation. Judging from Yixing’s own stunned look he didn’t. Jongdae then looked over at his father who shrugged and shook his head, not offering much guidance either.

“Please get up,” Jongdae said to Minho, looking back at him.

Minho stood up, his face red, a few tears having fallen as he managed to hold the rest back.

“What do I need to do? I’ll do anything.”

“I don’t need you to do anything,” Jongdae said. “You have nothing to offer us, and you are an enemy of this family. You shouldn’t have even come here.”

“The Park’s didn’t take our home. They said they had no need for it. What if I sold you our home?”

“I don’t need a home full of ghosts. I already live in one.”

“Please, Jongdae. Please. We have to sell it anyway to survive, and we know no one will buy it after what happened there. Please.”

Jongdae may not have been a business or finance major, but even he knew a bad investment when he saw one.

“Maybe your good friend the Son’s will buy it.”

“The Son’s are not our friends.”

“So you didn’t send them to attack us to weaken us further during all this?”

“That was my father, not me.”

“Reach out to them.”

“I already tried. They wouldn’t even see me,” Minho said, and if it was possible for desperation to sound even more desperate, his voice had managed to reach that level.

“And I imagine all the allied families wouldn’t either,” Jongdae said, crossing his arms, more to defend himself against the emotional stress coming off the man before him.

“No one will help me. I don’t know what to do. I don’t know where to start, or where to go, or what happens next. We’ve lost everything.”

“Not everything,” Jongdae reminded him again. “You have your mother and sister, your life, your home and belongings. Those are starting points for rebuilding your life.”

“Please,” he said again, his voice strained as it came out more like a yell.

Jongdae took a small breath to calm himself, then said, “Do you mind waiting outside for a moment while I speak to my advisor?”

“Anything you want. Please,” Minho said looking at Yixing, “Please advise him to help us. Please,” he said, bowing to Yixing as he left the room with one of the security guards.

Once the door was shut, Jongdae let out a very large breath and took in another deep one.

“What the hell am I supposed to do about this?” Jongdae asked Yixing, and he looked over at his father’s advisor as well, and then his father.

“We owe them nothing,” his father said. “They dug their own grave.”

“Right, the way we did when you left the Park’s the first time,” Jongdae pointed out, not meaning it as a slight, but his father looked away for a moment then back at him.

“And the Park’s owe us nothing,” his father said.

“But they did save our ass after I almost single-handedly destroyed our family,” Jongdae acknowledged. “I know Minho didn’t have much control over his own situation. He’s always been obedient to his father, but he was raised that way. I don’t think he was a saint in all of this. We know how he treated Ju-hyun, and that wasn’t very nice, but still…”

“He’s a product of his environment,” Yixing said. “And he may be lost and harmless now, but time heals wounds, and in some cases, hardens them. The Park’s let him live, which means the Park’s left open the possibility of revenge.”

“I don’t think we can live in fear of revenge,” Jongdae pointed out. “But why take our chances?” He said as he reconsidered his point. “The Park’s owed us nothing, but gave us a reprieve. We owe the Choi’s nothing, but we assisted in taking out the majority of their family, we can give Minho a reprieve.”

“So what do you suggest then?” His father asked him.

Jongdae thought it over a moment, nothing in particular surfacing in his mind as a good solution, so he relented.

“Let’s buy the house and property,” Jongdae stated.

“I know we just got an influx of funds,” his father’s advisor said, “But this is not how we should spend it.”

“I know,” Jongdae said, “But Minho’s right. I do understand. None of our situations as sons of high families are black and white. None of us were asked to be born into this, and we’re all at the mercy of our father’s decisions and how we were raised. I’ve stood where he’s standing now.”

“Nothing comes for free,” Yixing said. “The Choi’s money doesn’t truly belong to us. It’s returning to its rightful owner.”

“You’re doing that Confucius thing again that Minseok always calls you out on.”

“It’s part of my ancestry. It can’t be helped.”

Jongdae gave him a small smile and let the security guard know he could allow Minho back in. Minho returned, looking at Jongdae expectantly as he stood before him.

“We’ll buy your home and property.”

“Thank you,” Minho said bowing to him repeatedly in gratitude.

“We’re going to pay a bit less than it’s worth, considering all that happened there.”

“I’ll take your offer. Whatever it is.”

“Set up a time when you and your lawyer can meet with my father to go over the paperwork. He’ll handle all the details.”

“Yes, thank you,” Minho said bowing to Jongdae’s father, and his father nodded at the young man. Minho thanked them all again and left, and Jongdae stood for a moment, staring at the closed door and wondering what he was going to do with a cursed home and the property so many had died upon.

***

“What the hell are we going to do with a cursed home?” Minseok asked annoyed after Jongdae filled him in on his impromptu meeting with Minho.

The overcast sky threatened snow as they along with Yixing walked across the estate grounds toward their security headquarters.

“I don’t know,” Jongdae shrugged. “My dad’s a good businessman. He’ll figure it out.”

“We needed that money to pay the new security people. I’ve gotten good leads on some new recruits.”

“We still have enough for that. My mom just may have to hold off on redecorating the master bedroom for a little bit.”

“Please tell me you at least advised him against it,” Minseok said to Yixing.

“I did not,” Yixing stated.

“Hopeless. The both of you,” Minseok grumbled. “Well in other news, you’ll both be happy to know that Chanyeol has officially lifted the lockdown for everyone, so you’re both free to leave the house on your own again. Well, Yixing is. You’re just free to leave with your bodyguards.”

Jongdae would take it. He felt a massive weight lift from his shoulders, feeling relief that this meant Chanyeol had deemed things safe enough for things to return to normal.

They arrived at their main security cabin and stepped inside, all of their security guards that weren’t on duty having been called in for a quick meeting.

They greeted Jongdae with a bow then sat or stood against the walls as their lead security motioned for where Jongdae could stand to address them best.

Jongdae hadn’t rehearsed what he was going to say to their security team, but he knew he had to say something to them after everything that had happened. What his own security guard had told him had shaken him a bit, even if he didn’t realize how much at the time.

“I wanted to come in here and personally thank each of you for helping out with the Choi’s takedown. I know the operation didn’t go exactly as planned, but all of you adapted well to the changes and came out victorious. So thank you and congrats on your success. These have been really tough times for our family, and you may have heard a rumor that I intend on rebuilding us and making us a high family again. That rumor is true. I have a feeling that a lot of you think I can’t pull that off. I know why you think that, and you’re not wrong in thinking it. It’s up to me to earn your confidence in that endeavor, and I will. But also know that in order to be successful at making us a high family again, I will need the help of each and every one of you, so I hope when the time comes, I can count on each of you to be ready for what will need to be done. To thank you all for your great work, you’ll be receiving bonuses and an extra day off this week to spend more time with your loved ones.”

Jongdae bowed to them in respect before leaving then walked back across the estate grounds, heading toward the garden. The flowers were gone now that it was winter, but he hoped to maybe find a few still lingering about, unaware of the seasons having changed.

“I’m liking whatever this is,” Minseok commented, kicking the damp dirt beneath his feet as he let out a big yawn.

“Yixing gave me some light reading on leadership, so I’m trying out the techniques.”

“He was always great at studying,” Yixing explained to Minseok. “I figured I’d play to his strengths.”

“You’re a genius,” Minseok told the advisor, and then he looked at Jongdae. “So what’s next on your leadership schedule?”

“Something that I’m not entirely prepared for,” Jongdae admitted, not having much luck in his search for latent flowers. “The other allied families have given gifts of loyalty to the Park’s. We should too, especially since that’s something we know Chanyeol takes notice of. I want to do it today though so he doesn’t use our tardiness on that type of thing against us again.”

“Well, there’s no real way to prepare for that,” Minseok admitted. “What are you going to give him?”

“I have no idea,” Jongdae said.

“Just go to a souvenir shop and get him tea,” Minseok said, and Yixing cracked up, slapping his hand on his knee in a way Jongdae hadn’t seen the man do in a while.

“Oh my God,” Jongdae said with an amused expression on his face.

“That was so funny,” Yixing said still laughing.

“You broke him,” Jongdae said to Minseok.

“He’s not broken. He has fine taste in humor,” Minseok said instead.

“I’m just imagining Chanyeol’s face if you gave him a souvenir tea gift set,” Yixing said, placing his hand on his stomach as he took little breaths to regain himself.

“It’s almost worth it to do it,” Minseok said.

“I’m not doing that,” Jongdae said, but it somehow did make him think of an idea. “Maybe meat.”

“Meat?” Minseok and Yixing asked him at the same time.

“I can get some choice cuts from Red for his family. They might like it.”

“Who doesn’t like meat?” Minseok stated. “Meat it is.”

“I’ll call the head chef to arrange it,” Yixing said.

Jongdae nodded and glanced around, spotting some wilted flowers on the floor in a soft patch of barren plant limbs. He crouched down gathering them carefully, not wishing to destroy them in their brittle state.

“On our way, I have to make a pit stop,” Jongdae explained to them. “Now that the lockdown is over, I have to visit Mina. I haven’t had a chance with it in place.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Minseok said with understanding. “I should say hi to her too.”

“Hopefully even in this state,” Jongdae said, getting up as he cradled the delicate petals in his hand, “these will remind her of home.”

“They will,” Yixing stated with a soft smile, and the men headed back toward the home to get ready for the rest of their day.

***

“You have another visitor,” his father’s security guard said to Jongdae while he was back in his office, and Jongdae felt a sense of déjà vu.

“Again?” Jongdae asked.

“You’re quite popular today.”

“Who is it?”

“The Commissioner General.”

Jongdae looked over at Minseok and Yixing, whose faces were as confused as his.

“We’ll be right down,” Jongdae said.

“This reminds me of the old days,” Minseok said with a big smile, “When your father would have nonstop people visiting the office. Today has felt like a high family day.”

It had felt that way, but Jongdae knew his luck would run out at some point, so before things returned to their normal state, he got to his feet and made his way down to his father’s office again, and even though he had been warned, he was still surprised to see the Commissioner General standing there when he entered.

He bowed in greeting to the Commissioner who bowed in greeting back to him.

“Thank you for seeing me today,” the older man said.

“I’m surprised by your visit” Jongdae told him.

This time his father and father’s team was not in the office, so Jongdae moved to stand closer to his father’s desk, though he did not bother to stand or sit behind it.

“I wanted to thank you for saving my daughter’s life,” the Commissioner said. “I know that is not something you had to do. She explained to me that it had been your idea, not the young Park’s. So I wanted to thank you personally.”

“In our research,” Jongdae explained, “we uncovered that she was innocent in all of this, so it only felt right. If it had jeopardized the overall mission, however, we wouldn’t have had a choice but to abandon the plan to save her. It worked out in her favor.”

“I warned her about getting involved with the young Choi. But daughters tend to no longer care about their father’s opinions when they find new men in their lives. He was charming, even to me, but I knew better than to trust the charm’s of a high family son.”

“I’m sure your daughter knows better now too,” Jongdae pointed out. “You don’t learn anything if you don’t make mistakes.”

“That is true,” he nodded in thought. “You’ve made many of your own, if I’m remembering correctly.”

“I’ll get the hang of this head of the family thing eventually, I’m sure,” Jongdae said.

“I believe you will. And that is why I wanted to see you. I am in debt to your family for saving my daughter’s life. You’ve lost your high family status, but should you ever intend to regain it, I may be able to assist you. I wanted to let you know that whatever you may need to ask of me, I will grant. It’s the little I can do to repay such a large debt.”

“That is very generous of you,” Jongdae said, “But one would think you’d want to steer away from high families for the time being.”

“If only a man in my position could be free of such things. Another high family will come calling in no time, attempting to influence me to work in their favor for their illegal endeavors. I can’t escape it in my position. The high families in this country are too powerful, and in a perfect world, you would all be brought down, but this isn’t a perfect world, and I, like most of us, are at your mercy. I commit my services to the Kim family when the time comes.”

“We are honored,” Jongdae said, bowing to the man and thanking him before escorting him to the door. “We’ll let you know what we need when the time comes.”

Once the older man left, Jongdae let out a large breath and rubbed his hand over his face, leaning against his father’s desk.

“We have the Commissioner General,” Minseok said, eyes wide and voice in awe. “This is the greatest day we’ve had all year.”

“Good thinking on saving Jin-ri,” Yixing complimented him. “We needed a high official in our pocket. Now you’ve gotten us one without even having to pay him.”

“It was not intentional,” Jongdae said, shaking his head knowing he couldn’t take credit for this one. In fact, he had no idea how to process this information in the first place. With the extra money, even after taking out the chunk to buy the Choi property, and a high official at their beck and call, Jongdae could begin to start setting in motion things that needed to happen for them to rebuild and get their status back.

It felt a little overwhelming, and he needed to collect his thoughts and talk it out with the one person that would help him understand. So he went back to his room to gather the petals he had found for Mina and left to visit her.

***

Jongdae spread the petals out over the damp grass, and noticed that the fresh orange and yellow gladiolus were vibrant in front of her tomb. They seemed out of place in this winter weather, and for the first time in the year and a half he’d been visiting her, he wondered who kept leaving them there. He’d have to ask his parents if it was them, though he happened to know that his father didn’t visit often enough to constantly replace them, and his mother always brought her fruit, enough for Mina to share with the birds that kept her company in her new home.

“I haven’t been able to come see you in a while,” he told her. “I’m sorry about that. I wasn’t allowed to leave the house.” He caught her up with everything she had missed, interrupting himself as he remembered small details that he had to interject, but finding himself back to the main story after his tangents.

When he was done, he had to take a large breath, letting it all sink in for himself.

“I think you would have been really disappointed in me, but I think you would have still have believed in me, or… I’m not sure. After Yoona told me what she did about how you treated her, and how overprotective you were of me, I wonder how much you actually believed in me. Sometimes I wonder if you protected me so much because you knew I wouldn’t be able to handle all this. I guess you did know. But you’re not here now, so I have to learn how to handle everything. You know what’s funny? Most people in my life were overprotective of me growing up and even up until you were gone, then after that, everyone stopped treating me like that. Were they just doing it because of you? Were they following your lead?”

Jongdae frowned and thought back to incident after incident where Mina protected him, even one time when Jongdae was around 13 and his uncle had made mention at a family event about how Minseok had been born more manly than Jongdae. Mina had stood right up to their uncle and told him that he needed to apologize for saying that, and that both Jongdae and Minseok had been born as manly as the other, all Kim men being of the same strength. And then she had added on in a very rebellious Mina way that unfortunately not all Kim men had been born with the same intellect, unlike the Kim women who knew better than to say such stupid things as he had.

“Mina, apologize to your uncle,” their father had told her, his face flushed with embarrassment at his daughter’s disrespectful outburst.

“Not until he apologizes to Jongdae,” Mina demanded.

Their father had looked at their uncle, then told his brother, “You need to apologize to my son.”

Jongdae hadn’t felt he needed an apology, knowing well himself that Minseok had been born with more manly attributes than he had, but he accepted his uncle’s apology and said, “It’s okay. I still love you.”

Mina had given him a big smile after that, mostly because the look of guilt on his uncle’s face had pleased her more than anything.

“Now it’s your turn,” their father had said.

Mina let out a long-suffering sigh, then said, “I apologize for defending my brother’s honor. Oh wait, no I don’t. I’d do it again.”

“Mina,” their father had said, but the warning tone had came out too light, as he felt too amused by his daughter’s response.

“I still love you too,” she then said to her uncle.

And their uncle had apologized to them both then, trying to cover himself by saying that what he had meant to say had not come out right, and that he loved them both very much.

Jongdae then remembered that Minseok had come up to him a bit later and said, “I am manlier than you though.”

Mina had kicked him and Minseok had kicked her back, because that was the sort of relationship Mina and Minseok had always had, being the same age and having grown up together since practically birth.

“Yes, you’re so manly right now,” Jongdae had teased him.

“I’d kick you too if your sister wouldn’t kick my ass for it,” Minseok said.

“Oh yeah, that sounds super manly,” Mina had said, shoving Minseok, who shoved her back.

It had actually been a fun day, now that Jongdae thought about it.

“God I miss you,” Jongdae said, rubbing his face again, his hands cold from the wind, even against his cool face. “It was easier when I knew you’d be there to handle everything. How did it come so naturally to you? Why couldn’t I have been born with that Kim gene? It’s okay though. I’m going to do it. And I’ve got Minseok to help me. And Yixing. I think that together, Minseok and Yixing are like a combined version of you. Almost. Anyway, I have to go now. I have to meet with Park Chanyeol and hope I don’t screw things up even more between our families. I wish we could rebuild and become a high family without ever having to deal with them again, but as Minseok pointed out, our families have always been intertwined, so I have to make it work. Wish me luck. I miss you. I love you.”

He said a silent prayer for her before standing up and leaving the tomb so Minseok could have some privacy as he spoke to her next. Jongdae paced a bit in the cemetery grounds, working on his breathing to make sure he could be as calm as possible again before having to meet with Chanyeol. He appreciated the room that his security guards and Yixing gave him, as they stood off a bit near a tree.

Jongdae looked toward Mina’s tomb to see Minseok pouring two shots of soju, one for himself and one for Mina, as he always did when he visited. Minseok always toasted with her and took a drink before settling in to speak with her. Jongdae always wondered what his cousin talked with Mina about when he visited, but he knew it was none of his business, so he always gave them their space and never eavesdropped. And then he thought again about the bright flowers and wondered who it was that brought such bright offerings to her each time they had their conversations with her.

***

Jongdae entered the elder Park’s office and bowed in greeting to Chanyeol before motioning for his security to place their gift on the desk.

“I wanted to apologize to you and to your family,” Jongdae began, “For not being entirely honest with you about the operation and jeopardizing it. Even though I let my ego get involved, my true intentions were good, and I am grateful that you took over and successfully brought all this to an end. In a show of gratitude for all you have done for our family, and in hopes of our continued friendship and partnership, we have brought you this gift of the finest imported meat from our best-regarded restaurant. Our head chef chose the best cuts and has included instructions for your cooks to get the best flavor. We hope your family enjoys this gift along with our continued loyalty to your family.”

Jongdae bowed out of respect again and hoped Chanyeol just accepted it so they could get out of there as quick as possible. He felt a swift exit was his only chance at continuing to have a good day. 

“Apology accepted,” Chanyeol said, his face showing both confusion and something else that Jongdae couldn’t pinpoint, “And thank you. This is very kind of the Kim family. I’m sure my family will enjoy it greatly.”

“We don’t want to take up any more of your time, so thank you for seeing us. We’ll go now,” Jongdae said, bowing again, but before he could turn to leave Chanyeol stopped him.

“Wait, you know you didn’t have to do this, right?” Chanyeol asked him. “You’re part of our family already so I feel it’s understood.”

“We did have to,” Jongdae said, mentally cursing the thwarted escape. “We have not shown our gratitude previously for what you’ve done for our family. Now that we know the Choi’s were behind it, we would have been massacred by them the moment you had broken off your alliance with us. We wouldn’t have stood a chance.”

Chanyeol seemed sobered by this thought, as if he hadn’t considered it, and Jongdae knew how he felt as well, not realizing it himself until the dust had settled from the operation. It’s part of why Jongdae knew he wouldn’t be able to break ties with the Park family anytime soon. They had to be strong enough to defend themselves against a major attack before they could be on their own again.

“Well either way, thank you as well for all your help with it. To all of your family. We appreciate everyone’s part.” And then Chanyeol looked toward Minseok and said, “And especially to you. You have been an amazing asset to our team as a whole, and I hope you’ll consider reaccepting your promotion and working again in a lead capacity for the Park security team.”

Minseok nodded and said, “I accept it.”

“Great,” Chanyeol said, “Jongin will be glad to hear it. As will our lead security, of course.”

“You have a great security team,” Minseok said, “I am honored to work alongside them and continue to learn from their expertise.” He gave Chanyeol a curt bow.

Chanyeol then looked back at Jongdae, and he hoped it was to tell him he was done, but instead he asked him, “So, about 4, I take it you had no idea of his affiliation with our former assassin.”

Jongdae’s stomach felt heavy all of a sudden, but he answered, “No. No idea. It was very surprising to find that out.”

“How did he manage to infiltrate you guys?”

“You’d have to meet him to understand,” Jongdae stated.

“Is he also an assassin?”

“He’s a con man. It’s why I told you he could make the distraction happen and that he was very skilled. In the short time we’ve known him, there’s been very little he wasn’t capable of.”

“He sounds like an amazing asset.”

“He was.”

“Was?”

Jongdae shrugged. “We relieved him of his duties after finding out the truth. I suppose you guys will try and recruit him. He is technically connected to your family’s side.”

“We’ll see,” Chanyeol said. “Just out of curiosity. What is 4’s real name?”

“Byun Baekhyun,” Jongdae told him. “He’s impossible to find though, so good luck with that. Well, you probably won’t have a hard time finding him since he’s connected to your assassin.”

“Thank you,” Chanyeol said, and Jongdae made his exit before any more questions were asked.

“That didn’t go so bad,” Yixing pointed out in the car ride back to their home.

“It definitely could’ve gone worse,” Minseok agreed.

Jongdae nodded. It definitely could’ve.

***

It had been an exhausting day, and by the time Jongdae had switched back into sweats and a comfortable oversized baseball tee, he felt that he needed to sleep for ages to re-energize himself for the next morning.

He shuffled his way into the kitchen for a tea to help him sleep better and found his mother, sitting alone at the kitchen table, staring out the window into the darkness of the night.

“Everything okay?” He asked his mother, pouring himself the tea she had already made, perhaps with the same intent.

“Everything is fine,” she said, the smile she gave him weak and lacking truth.

He sat with her, holding the cup between both of his hands as he let the steam warm up his face.

“I went to visit Mina today,” he told her. “Do you know who brings her those bright orange flowers that are always there?”

“I have no idea,” she said, turning her attention to him in full. “They’re so beautiful though. They’re very Mina. Bright, loud, vibrant. I know they’re delivered, which makes sense since I think those flowers would be hard to come by during these times of year.”

“They’re delivered?”

“Yes. I once was visiting her when the staff placed them at her tomb. I asked them who had sent them, and they said they didn’t know, just that they received new ones every week to replace the old ones with.”

Jongdae furrowed his brows, this information countering his narrative of someone speaking to her when they brought them to her.

“That’s a little weird,” he said.

“I suppose it’s a way to continue to show their love to her even when their day-to-day life doesn’t allow for them to visit,” his mother said.

Jongdae figured that could be true, but it was so consistent that he felt there had to be more to it than that.

“So, you didn’t seem too happy this morning at breakfast when I told you guys about our extra money.”

“I’m happy that the worst for now is over,” his mother said, “But…” she paused, as if considering how to share her words with him. “I had been hoping that we would slowly downsize and move away from this life altogether, so I can live the rest of my life in peace with my husband and son and maybe grandchildren in the future. But I’ve spent the day slowly accepting that this isn’t to be. You plan on making us a high family again, and there is nothing I can do to stop it. So I have to continue to live in fear of your life. No, I wasn’t too happy.”

He understood this, and he felt a soft guilt at not having considered his mother’s feelings and wishes in all of this. He knew this day had been too good to be true.

“I’m sorry,” he said, not knowing what else to say.

“Do not be sorry. Do what you feel you need to do.”

“If you tell me not to do it, I won’t do it,” Jongdae then said. “We have enough money to start over as a normal family and live peacefully, perhaps out in the countryside or by the ocean.”

“This is not my decision to make,” his mother said, “And this is not something that is in my hands. I will never tell you not to do something, especially if it’s something you want to do.”

“I used to feel like I had to do this, but now it’s something I want to do only because I feel I owe it to all of us to try. It’s my fault we lost our high family status.”

“I understand.”

“The security team doesn’t think I can do it. What do you think?”

“I know you can do it. That’s what makes it worse for me. But don’t worry about what I think. All you need to know is that I support you no matter what, and when things get bad or you start to feel upset or frustrated by it all, I’m always here to listen to you, and make sure you drink your tea, and give you the best advice I can.”

Jongdae put his cup of tea down and got up, going over to his mother and giving her a big hug, needing to feel her comfort right now. She held him back tightly and he told her thank you, and held onto her even more. He felt grateful at that moment that he hadn’t lost her too in all of this, and it gave him hope that maybe there were others that he had pushed away that maybe hadn’t been pushed too far out of reach.


	15. (Two Moons)

Nothing had seemed real to Kyungsoo the moment he had left the Park property, stunned, his heart beating fast against the tightness of his chest that couldn’t contain all of the emotions that flooded it at once. Many of the emotions felt new, some were unrecognizable, others he knew too well, but they all caused his chest to hurt as tears fell from his face.

By the time he had arrived home, he had given up on erasing the look on Chanyeol’s face when he had told him to get out and never come back. It was permanently seared into his memory, and he doubted he’d ever see anything else again. He managed to get his shoes off before running to his room and crawling into his bed, allowing very large sobs to escape in the silence of the home. He cuddled a pillow close to him, then yelled into it, then sobbed and banged his fist against it several times before succumbing to his exhaustion and having no more energy to grieve loudly, instead whimpering softly as tears continued to fall – tears that he hadn’t thought could exist after all the tears he had cried at the loss of his mother.

When Baekhyun arrived home later, his friend sounded confused by the scene and he pulled Kyungsoo into him, giving him something new to cry into.

“What happened?” Baekhyun asked, rubbing his hand in comforting circles around Kyungsoo’s back.

“I had to tell him the truth,” Kyungsoo managed to squeeze out of his throat, with a loud cry accompanying it.

“Ah,” Baekhyun said, letting out a soft sigh as he held him closer. “That explains why Jongdae isn’t returning my calls then.”

“I’m sorry,” Kyungsoo said, and his fingers curled tightly around the fabric of Baekhyun’s shirt as his body shuddered with a new wave of tears. “He kicked me out of the family.”

“Shh,” Baekhyun had said to him, running his free hand through Kyungsoo’s hair, pushing it back in a soothing way. “Just get some rest. It’s going to be okay.”

“Why does this hurt so much?” Kyungsoo asked him. “This hurts, Baek.”

“I’m so sorry,” Baekhyun said. “Just get some rest. It’ll help with the pain, okay?”

Kyungsoo did end up falling asleep in Baekhyun’s arms, too tired to fight it, and when he had woken up, he had found himself still wrapped in Baekhyun’s arms, but instead of pain, there only existed numbness.

He stared off at nothing for a bit, replaying the scene in his head again and thinking that nothing in the world was worse than the look that Chanyeol had given him when he had told him to leave.  He hadn’t even had a chance to talk with the elder Park before leaving, to wish him goodbye and apologize to him as well for what he had done. It was odd, to have had nothing, but somehow feel like he had lost everything.

Baekhyun stirred awake with a loud yawn and a mumble, always one to talk in his sleep, and he stretched one arm out over his head before looking at Kyungsoo.

“How are you feeling?” Baekhyun asked him.

Kyungsoo couldn’t answer. His words must have been cried out along with his tears, and he just stared at his friend, sad and lost as to what to do next.

Baekhyun hugged him tight and placed a kiss on his forehead then let him go to stand up and stretch his arms out over his head even more.

“I’m going to make you some food,” Baekhyun said. “It’s going to help.”

Kyungsoo stared at the ceiling, while barely registering the sounds of pots and pans clanking in the kitchen. He kept replaying scenes in his mind of Chanyeol in his tux, and Chanyeol on the basketball court, and Chanyeol in his kitchen making Kyungsoo some rice on the day it had been his turn to cook for him. He hadn’t thought he would lose all of those things so fast, not when he had just started to settle into the groove of them.

He should have known better than to get involved. This was entirely his fault, and he had no one to blame but himself. But it didn’t make the pain any less.

“Food’s ready,” Baekhyun yelled out after some time, but Kyungsoo did not move.

His friend had anticipated this though, coming into the room with a tray, which he set upon the bed for them.

“I made us soup,” Baekhyun said. “Well, I heated up the leftover soup you had made.” He sat on the bed with his legs tucked under each other and spooned some of the soup, blowing the top just in case it was too hot. “You have to sit up so I can feed you more like a baby and less like an old person.”

Kyungsoo didn’t want to eat. He wanted to sleep some more, but his eyes didn’t seem to want to close, probably in fear of what images he might see if he did.

“Okay, fine,” Baekhyun said, trying to position the spoon near Kyungsoo’s mouth, but it was difficult to not spill it from that angle. Baekhyun sighed and ended up eating the spoonful himself instead. “It’s so good. You really should eat it. The kimchi is exactly what you need to help put life back into you. It’s hot though still. You’re right, let’s wait a little more.”

The night progressed in this way, and Kyungsoo didn’t end up eating, instead drifting off to sleep again. Baekhyun let him and the next morning when he woke, he found his friend typing on a laptop, while biting his lip as he concentrated very hard on something.

Kyungsoo turned to his side to watch him better, still feeling numb, but able to process his surroundings a bit better.

“Ah, you’re awake,” Baekhyun said. “I’ll make us food then. I was just trying to hook up a job for myself now that I’m unemployed again. Give me a few minutes.”

Kyungsoo felt a pang in his heart at the mention of this, being reminded of his own unemployment status and the reason for it.

This time he did get up from his bed to eat, and he sat on the couch, he on one side, Baekhyun on the other, as they faced each other and ate more of the leftover soup. He hadn’t realized how much he had been starving until he had taken that first bite, and he barely took a breath as he finished his whole bowl.

“Here, finish mine for me,” Baekhyun said handing him his bowl, and Kyungsoo did take it, knowing his friend had only offered it out of mercy for his ravenous behavior.

They sat in silence for some time and Kyungsoo was grateful that Baekhyun had not pressed the issue, giving him the emotional space to figure it out on his own, but Kyungsoo didn’t know how to do that, so he decided to speak.

“I miss Chanyeol,” he said first, his voice raspy, and he cleared his throat to help the words come out better.

“I bet you do,” Baekhyun nodded.

“I’ve never had something like that happen to me before,” he continued, though Baekhyun looked as if he wasn’t sure what he was referring to exactly, so he clarified, “Being disgraced like that. The room was full of people. My mentor, the head of security, people that had worked so hard to train me, and I was kicked out of the family in front of them. I had never felt that embarrassed. It hurt. And still, that didn’t hurt as much as losing Chanyeol. Why?”

“Oh,” Baekhyun said, seeming to consider the answer, then saying, “I think it’s because he broke your heart. People say that feels worse than anything else.”

“I don’t ever want to feel this again. This hurts so bad. Why did I let this happen? I knew I had to tell him. I knew this could happen if I didn’t. Why did I let this happen?”

“You deserved the happiness you felt this past month with him,” Baekhyun told him. “It wasn’t about letting this happen. It was about you finding something that you had never had before, and you discovering it and experiencing it. And it was a good thing. I’m sure after everything settles, Chanyeol will realize he was being stupid in kicking you out and beg for you to come back.”

Kyungsoo shook his head.

“You weren’t there. You didn’t see the way he looked at me. He never wants to see me again.”

The pain returned to his chest, and he put the empty bowl down on the coffee table, lifting his knees up to his chest and wrapping his arms tight around them for support.

“Then he doesn’t deserve you,” Baekhyun said, “If he ends up being that way then you have to let him go. Maybe this was a trial run for you. Like, maybe you needed to find out that you could have feelings like that for someone, and now that you know, you can find someone else.”

“I don’t want someone else,” Kyungsoo replied, and it may have been a bit of a whine. “I opened myself up to him for a reason. There was something about him that made me let down my guard. If this was a trial run, then what I learned is that I’m never doing that again.”

“Don’t say that.”

“It’s true. You have the right idea. We’re both on the same page. We don’t need other people in our lives ruining the simple life we’ve made for ourselves. It was stupid of me.”

Baekhyun sighed and shook his head.

“It wasn’t stupid of you. And I don’t have the right idea. I have issues. And you don’t want my issues. You just need some time to regroup. I know there is a person out there for you, and you’ll have to drop your guard again, and you will, and that time it will work out just fine.”

“I don’t think so. I think it’s not meant for me. It runs in the family. My father left my mom before I was even born. Now knowing how this feels, I can’t imagine my mother being pregnant while feeling this heartbroken and knowing she was left alone to handle having a baby by herself. I think we’re cursed when it comes to this. Also, my father’s a dick, whoever he is, and he better pray I never meet him because I will fucking beat the shit out of him for making my mother feel like this.”

“That is so intense,” Baekhyun said, his eyes a little surprised, “But totally understandable. I hope you never run into him.”

“What am I going to do now?”

“Keep going. Go back to school, finish your degree, open your hair salon, cut my hair.”

“You’re better at this than I am.”

“Well, I’ve never experienced what you’re going through.”

“You’ve experienced worse.”

“And you’ve experienced losing your mom.”

Kyungsoo thought for a moment about it but knew it was different somehow. “With my mom, she had been sick for so long. I had time to prepare the best I could for losing her. This was so sudden. I wasn’t ready.”

“Ah,” Baekhyun said like he understood. “When I lost my parents, that was very sudden. But I was only three, so I didn’t understand that I had really lost them until they took me to the orphanage and told me it was my new home. I spent a lot of time crying, but then one day, I realized that the other boys didn’t have parents either, so instead, I decided to spend my energy making friends with them so we could be each other’s family. It didn’t really work at first, but it gave me something to do. I think what I’m saying is that, even when things are sudden, you still have to go through the same process as you did with something expected. You grieve, and then you have to give yourself something to do to help take your mind off it and that’s what helps you move on.”

This made sense to him, and Kyungsoo nodded. He had allowed himself to get caught up in someone he shouldn’t have, and now that was over. It had hurt. He had spent the last couple of days grieving. Now he needed something to do, but when he thought about going back to school, he could only think of the elder Park.

“The elder Park pays my tuition,” he said with a frown. “I may not be able to go back to school.”

“Oh,” Baekhyun said with a frown, but then he brightened up. “I can pick up bigger money jobs to help you pay for it!”

“No,” Kyungsoo said. “You’re not doing that. I’ll have to figure that out myself. I’ve never had a real job before. I’m not sure what I can do.”

“Well, the Academy is still waiting for you to change your mind if you want to go that route.”

Kyungsoo had wanted to initially walk away from that life, but now, having lost his mother and dealing with all this pain, he thought that maybe it was the only life he could have.

“I might as well, right?” Kyungsoo said, and Baekhyun looked at him surprised. “What else do I really have but my ability to kill?”

“No no no,” Baekhyun shook his head, “You didn’t want to do it anymore. I was joking.”

“I don’t care now. I could do it.”

“Stop that. You do care. And you have lots of abilities, like cooking. You could get a job cooking. Or you could be a security guard at like a fancy building.”

“I wouldn’t pass their background check.”

“You’ve never been arrested. You would pass it just fine.”

“We might have to move,” Kyungsoo then thought out loud. “The Park’s might want us to move out. The elder Park paid for this place.”

“Okay, we’ll move then,” Baekhyun said. “There are other places we can live. And I can haggle us a good deal.”

To make Kyungsoo feel better, Baekhyun put on one of his favorite funny movies, but it didn’t prevent the sporadic tears that fell or the nap he took toward the end. When he woke up, Baekhyun had put on another one of his favorite movies and had made them snacks.

They ate and watched movies for the rest of the night, and Kyungsoo felt a bit calmer going to bed that night. It was a good thing too because the next morning, just as they had finished eating breakfast, a knock on the door startled them both.

“Did you order something?” Baekhyun asked him, and Kyungsoo shook his head. “Neither did I.”

Baekhyun got up to press the button on their security cam, and Kyungsoo instantly recognized the man standing outside the door.

“It’s for me,” Kyungsoo said. “It’s the elder Park.”

“Ah,” Baekhyun said, turning the screen off. “I’ll be in my room if you need anything.”

Kyungsoo nodded at him then walked over to the door, opening it with a tentative look on his face as he bowed in respect.

“Hello. I was not expecting to see you. Please come in.”

“Hello, D.O.,” the elder Park said, and he nodded at him and came in, Kyungsoo locking the door behind him.

“Let me help you,” Kyungsoo said, taking the man’s arm to guide him better as he had stepped forward with his cane.

“Thank you. I’m getting better at not using it these days, but the car ride over did me no favors. I can’t wait until I’m walking without it.”

“It’ll be soon,” Kyungsoo assured him, helping him sit on the couch, then asking, “Would you like some tea? Coffee? Water?”

“I’m fine. I came to speak with you.”

Kyungsoo nodded and pulled the armchair over so he could sit in front of him to make it easier for the older man to address him.

“I’m so sorry for what I did,” Kyungsoo stated before the man could begin. “I had no ill intentions toward the family. I was trying to help, but I should have been honest about how I was doing it.”

The elder Park put his hand up to stop him, making a slowdown motion, then saying, “Unlike my son, I do not think you did anything wrong.”

“You don’t?” Kyungsoo’s voice may have come out softer than he had intended, but he was confused and it had distorted his delivery.

“I understand what you did and why you did it. And I understand how you went about it. I think it was very brilliant on your part. And as we all now know, because of you, all this was able to be brought to an end. What you did actually showed me just how loyal you are to our family and what a great asset you are, have been, and always will be.”

“I can’t anymore,” Kyungsoo told him, not sure what he knew. “Chanyeol kicked me out of the family.”

“Yes, but Chanyeol will not always be the head of the family. He does not want the responsibility, and though he is great at it, I do not want it for him either. It makes him unhappy, and I do not want my son to be unhappy.”

Kyungsoo nodded and swallowed the emotions surfacing as they spoke about Chanyeol.

“I will be taking back over as the head of the family soon,” the elder Park continued. “We’re going to start transitioning in a few weeks.”

Kyungsoo was surprised at the news.

“I know that you left the family before because you felt you no longer could fulfill your duties. I wanted a peaceful life for you as well. I wanted you also to be happy. But I wonder if maybe being back has made you reconsider slightly. You see, when I take back over, I would very much love for you to come back to work for the family again, and I wonder if I could entice you by telling you that I would not want you to come back as our family’s assassin. I have another position in mind for you. One, that I believe, you have proven yourself worthy of.”

Kyungsoo couldn’t even imagine what position he could be worthy of after everything that had happened, so he asked, “What position would that be?”

“When I first met you,” the elder Park said, “I could not stop thinking about you. You reminded me so much of myself at your age that I thought it was my responsibility to guide you and watch over you. Had you had a father around, perhaps I wouldn’t have felt it as strongly, but knowing what you were going through without a father to guide you made me take greater interest than I should have. My own son likes to accuse me of thinking of you as more of a son than him. I understand why he thinks that, but what he doesn’t realize is that I think of both of you as sons in very completely different ways. It’s not a comparison. Chanyeol was always meant to walk his own path, and I’ve known for a very long time that he would not follow in my footsteps. However, the other boy that I thought of as my son was very much born for just that. Kyungsoo, I want you to return to the family and be my apprentice, so that when the time comes, you will take over as the head of the Park family.”

Kyungsoo’s heart raced and he had no words he could think of for this proposal. He shook his head because there was no way he could take on such an important task. His future always only held two things for him: to kill on command or to cut people’s hair. Neither of those things lent themselves to one day running a high family.

“You do not have to give me an answer now,” the elder Park said. “This is a very big thing I have thrown at you. Think about it, take some time with the idea, then let me know your answer. Do not fear my reaction. Just like my other son, what I ultimately want is your happiness. If your decision is what makes you happy, I will accept it.”

“But,” Kyungsoo managed to get out. “I don’t think you really want me to do this. There’s more that you need to know.” He tried to rush it out so he didn’t scare himself out of saying it.

“Chanyeol told me about you and him,” the elder Park said and now Kyungsoo’s face showed surprise and uncertainty. “Don’t worry. I’m not upset about it. Shocked? Yes. Upset? No. However, I do not entirely support it, nor do I think it should continue.”

“You don’t have to worry. I don’t think Chanyeol will ever speak to me again.”

“I wouldn’t be too sure of that,” the elder Park said, “My son is stubborn. It takes him time to find his way, but he eventually finds it. He was very upset when I spoke to him about this. He needs time.”

In a way, it made Kyungsoo feel hopeful that maybe Chanyeol had felt as heartbroken as he had. But he couldn’t allow himself to be too hopeful if he had any chance of moving forward from it.

“But you wouldn’t support it?” Kyungsoo asked, his voice weak again.

“You’re both hurting right now because of what happened,” his father said, “I do not want that for either of you. The two of you are very different. You, as far as I know, do not have much experience with this sort of thing. Correct?”

Kyungsoo shook his head in affirmation.

“My son has too much experience. He is averse to relationships and tends to be careless with people’s emotions. He doesn’t know what he’s looking for, so he goes from one person to the next without giving it much thought. I don’t want you to get hurt because of this.”

Kyungsoo bit his lip, now wondering if maybe Chanyeol’s feelings for him had only been superficial after all. Was he just another in a long line of Ju-hyuns and Sehuns? Once he had given Chanyeol what he wanted, would he have been discarded like they had been in favor of his next conquest?

“My son is jealous of your relationship with me, and he has a hard time reconciling that with his own emotions for you. I don’t want him to get hurt because of it. Perhaps, at the time, what you two had may have felt like it was necessary, but going forward, I feel it would cause more issues.”

He swallowed, his face now concerned as he thought about this, and he looked at the elder Park unsure.

“I’m sorry,” the elder Park, “I did not come to you today with anything you wished to hear I suppose.”

“No, I’m glad you came,” Kyungsoo said quickly. “I was very upset that I hadn’t had a chance to apologize to you before being let go from the family. I had thought I’d never see you again, and it made me upset to think that.”

“You can always see me again,” the elder Park said, putting a hand on Kyungsoo’s shoulder and giving it a reassuring squeeze. “Never forget that you saved my son’s life, and my nephew’s as well. You will always be part of the Park family and you are always welcomed to see me. In fact, I always look forward to our talks. I hope to have more of them with you going forward. If you ever need anything, know that you can always reach out to me.”

“Thank you,” Kyungsoo said. “It means everything to me. I had already been considering having to move out and not continue to attend school…”

“You should have contacted me if you were concerned,” the elder Park chided him lightly. “If you were uncertain, you could have checked in with me. This is your home. And your schooling should continue as usual. Have you been going during this time?”

“No, I put a hold on it while I helped out.”

“Take the winter off,” the elder Park said. “Take some time for yourself. Then pick it up in the spring. You deserve a nice break after all of the great work you did for us.”

“Thank you. I will do that.”

“Oh, one more thing before I leave. Your friend. I would like to meet him. Is he here?”

“He is. I can go get him for you.”

“Please help me stand up,” he said, and Kyungsoo assisted him in standing again, then went to go get Baekhyun from his room.

Baekhyun seemed surprised by the request but followed Kyungsoo back out to the living room and bowed to the elder Park.

“It’s very nice to meet you,” Baekhyun told him.

“The pleasure is mine,” the elder Park said, taking him in. “You look so young.”

“Oh, we’re the same age,” Baekhyun said pointing toward him and Kyungsoo.

“I see. Well it turns out you must be as gifted as he is. I’ve heard stories recently of your talents.”

“Ah,” Baekhyun said, a bit humbly, which made Kyungsoo amused. “I just learn things as I go along. There’s always something to be learned.”

“There is indeed. Well, as you are Kyungsoo’s best friend and only family, and as you are quite gifted in ways our family can certainly benefit from, I would like for you to join our family as well, working with our security team. Is that something you would be interested in?”

Kyungsoo watched Baekhyun carefully and simply raised his eyebrows when Baekhyun looked over at him.

“Oh, that’s my dream,” Baekhyun said a bit hesitant, “To work for a high family. But I’d never pass the background checks.”

“If Kyungsoo trusts you, then we trust you. No background check required.”

“That is very kind of you,” Baekhyun said bowing to him again, “But, even though I know it probably won’t happen anymore, I kind of have my heart set on working for a different family.”

“Would that happen to be the Kim family?” the elder Park asked him.

“Yes. I really liked working for Jongdae, and I feel that it’s where I would belong if I could be part of any high family. I think I could help them the most with what I can do.”

“There’s no doubt about that,” the elder Park said, and he offered Baekhyun a soft smile, which in turn made Kyungsoo have his own soft smile on his face. “Well, a good fit is most important, but should they not be smart enough to take you back, the offer is always on the table for you. We look out for our own, and since you are Kyungsoo’s family, then we look out for you too.”

“Thank you. That’s very kind of you,” Baekhyun said.

Then the elder Park considered Kyungsoo and said, “Let me know what you decide.”

“I will,” Kyungsoo said, walking him to the door and opening it for him.

The elder Park’s security guard took over from there, and Kyungsoo made sure they were on the elevator safely before coming back inside.

“Hm,” Baekhyun said, tapping his finger to his chin.

“You have thoughts,” Kyungsoo pointed out as he locked the door.

“Oh, it’s my own training. I can see how a man like that always gets what he wants. It was very good to meet him. Now I know.”

“He’s always been good to me,” Kyungsoo told him.

“I know. I like that about him. You seem to have a way with the Park’s.”

“You do too considering he asked for you to go work for him,” Kyungsoo pointed out as he sat on the couch.

“He only asked me to because he knew it would make you happy,” Baekhyun pointed out as he sat on the couch and pulled his knees up to his chest as he faced him. “What does he want you to decide?”

“He wants me to come back to the family.”

“Oh, do you want to?”

“He wants me to come back as his apprentice, to train me to take over and be the head of the family once he no longer can.”

Baekhyun’s small eyes flew wide open, and Kyungsoo nodded at him, confirming he had heard him right.

“Holy shit,” Baekhyun said. “Are you going to do it?”

“I don’t think I can.”

“Of course you can.”

“I have no experience in being a leader. I’m good at taking orders, not giving them.”

“That’s not true at all. You single-handedly were the catalyst of everything that needed to happen for the Choi’s to be brought down. That was all you. You gave me orders to infiltrate the Kim’s, then you took the initiative to join the Park’s to get the ball rolling, and then you made Chanyeol listen to you so he could do the right thing to keep things moving. You were literally, whether anyone realized it or not, the person in charge of that whole operation. Actually, other than me, there is one person that realized it. The elder Park. He didn’t get to be the most powerful by not realizing things like that. If he says you can do it, and wants you to do it, it’s because he knows you can.”

Kyungsoo felt more confused by this, and he suddenly thought of his mother and wondered what she would think of this if he visited her grave and told her that he was training to be the head of a high family. She probably would cry if she was alive and able to.

“My mother wouldn’t have wanted this for me,” he said.

“No, she wouldn’t have,” Baekhyun said. “When I tried to rob the herbal shop and the herbal shopkeeper stopped me with his really cool sword, one of the questions he asked me was if I thought my parents would be proud of me for what I was doing. He didn’t know I didn’t have parents when he asked me that, but it made me sad at that moment because I knew they wouldn’t be. Like why did they save my life if I was just going to steal from people? But sometimes, when I was in jail and had nothing better to think about, I would talk to them and say that I knew they were disappointed in me but that I really was trying the best I could without them around. Maybe it’s different, but I think, even if your mom was disappointed in you taking this on, she would know that you were doing the best you could without her around. But maybe you don’t feel that way. Maybe you think running the beauty shop would be the best you could do without her around. I guess that’s what you have to decide.”

As often happened, he felt more confused by Baekhyun’s analogy, but he filed it away to think on it more later when he wasn’t still stunned by what had been said to him today.

“He also doesn’t support me and Chanyeol being together.”

“Ah, well that’s not surprising. It’s probably weird for him the idea of his son being with his employee like that.”

“He says I’m like his son,” Kyungsoo told him, “I suppose that makes it even weirder.”

“For sure,” Baekhyun agreed. “But you know, it doesn’t matter what he thinks. If you and Chanyeol want to be together, you should.”

“It doesn’t matter now.”

“But it will matter if you agree to take the new position. There’s no way you and Chanyeol would be able to avoid each other.”

“By then, I’m sure Chanyeol will have already moved on to his latest interest. Probably a girl. He seems to go back and forth between the two.”

“This is complicated,” Baekhyun said frowning. “I guess everything depends on what you decide. Once again, you’ll be the catalyst.”

Kyungsoo had no idea what to do, so he put on another movie to clear his head and try not to think about things for the moment but found it impossible to get lost in it with everything running through his mind.

A memory came back to him as he sat on the couch contemplating things, and it was vivid to him, watching his mother in the hair salon, having just finished working on a woman’s hair and sweeping up the space as he sat in the chair beside hers, petulantly swiveling back and forth. He had still been in his school uniform even after having come back from practicing with the Park security team. It was right before he had been promoted to train under their lead assassin, and before he had been taken out of school and given a tutor.

“Why is your arm bruised?” His mother had asked him, but she had already resigned herself to these things having found out by then that he had indeed taken up the elder Park on his request to have him join the family.

“I was learning self-defense techniques,” he said. “I’m still not good at it.”

“They’re just using you as a punching bag.”

“That’s not it at all,” he had defended with attitude. “You just want to always think badly about what the elder Park does.”

“You don’t even call him Mr. Park anymore,” she noted. “He’s completely brainwashed you.”

“He doesn’t brainwash people. Why do you always think so badly of him?”

“Because men like that are not good people. They prey on people like us to make them stronger. He’s just using you, and you’re letting him, and I couldn’t do anything to stop it. I blame myself for this. I know it’s my fault for not being around more and not being more involved in your life.”

“He’s not like that. He’s just trying to be a good father figure for me because he knows I don’t have one.”

“A good father figure doesn’t send a woman’s son home to her beaten and bruised.”

“You just don’t want to understand.”

“No, it’s you that doesn’t want to understand. I know you like having someone that’s like a father in your life, but he’s not your father. He is not responsible for you, and he doesn’t love you.”

“My real father isn’t responsible for me and doesn’t love me either, at least the elder Park teaches me things and spends time with me, even if just to ask me how my day at school was.”

He hadn’t meant to make his mother upset, but she had stopped sweeping and buried her face in her hand, turning away from him as her shoulders shook. But he could see her crying through the mirror and he had felt a strong guilt wash over him.

“Mom, please don’t cry,” he had said, not sure what else to do as he stood up and walked over to her.

“It’s fine. I’m fine,” she said, composing herself, and she stepped away from him to throw the hair she had collected into the trash. “I can’t do anything about this anymore. You have made a pact with the devil and he now owns your soul.”

It hurt to hear her say that and he watched her as she placed the broom by the wall and looked at him. Then she walked over to him and stood before him, placing her hands on his face and saying, “All I can say to you now, as the person in this world who does love you with all her heart, is that no matter what happens, no matter what this man makes you do, whatever he makes you believe, always, ALWAYS, remember who you are. You only truly belong to yourself, and it is you that you have to ultimately answer to.”

She removed her hands from his face and had told him to help her finish cleaning up so they could get home and make some dinner. They didn’t really speak to each other much the rest of that night, and Kyungsoo remembered being upset when he had gone to sleep.

“Maybe we should take a walk before the next movie,” Baekhyun said, pulling Kyungsoo out of his head. “You haven’t left the house in a while. I know. We can walk to the restaurant a couple of blocks down and pick up curry for lunch.”

Kyungsoo agreed, thinking that the change in scenery might help him think through everything better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part 3 is complete but will be posted later this week or sometime next week when I have time. I hope you're enjoying the story!


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